


Superheroes are Superflirts

by SherbetLemon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Break Up and Make Up, Coffee, Confessions, Crime Fighting, Dorks in Love, Flirting, Flirty Keith (Voltron), Fluff, Flustered Lance (Voltron), Friendship, Humor, Kissing, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Injuries, Mutual Pining, Office, Smooth Keith (Voltron), Superheroes, Superpowers, Team Punk do some teasing, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-06-23 00:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15593775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherbetLemon/pseuds/SherbetLemon
Summary: A flirty encounter with a mysterious hero almost turns to tragedy when Lance realises he's aligned to Voltron's rival hero agency. However, it turns out flirting on the job could happen an awful lot when you were always chasing the same criminals and Lance needed to beat that teleporting bastard somehow.But Marmora isn't all what it seems and when the true meaning of Hero doesn't sit well with Lance, he has to make some difficult decisions. Luckily, his friends are there to support him and putting trust into his instincts pulls him back on track.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I went to see Incredibles 2 last week and then had to write a superhero au!
> 
> Edit: I made a [tumblr post](http://smolstrawberrychara.tumblr.com/post/179357842021/voltron-superhero-au-powers-list) listing all their superpowers! It's in order of appearance so if you wanna avoid spoilers don't read too far but it's there if you're interested :)

Lance was giving chase, thundering down the streets in hot pursuit. Three perps. One armed. A thousand pedestrians. And there was only so many times he could say sorry before the words started impeding his airways.

Crashing around another corner he was losing them and there was a cross roads ahead. One skidded into a back alley, another was leaping over cars and a third hit a fire escape crawling up the side of a hotel. The last had the gun. So that’s where Lance went. Except he didn’t need to waste time slipping up stairs.

He jumped, flipped to the side and landed on the wall. And then he was running again. Straight up the tower block with record speed, leaping windows and dodging drain pipes.

Just as the gunman stepped onto the roof, so did Lance. A brief standoff, then, bam, he was racing across the flat rooftop. Running the edge, the villain was clearly looking for another way down, or an alternative roof to drop onto. That was his downfall. The search slowed him, and Lance gained the upper hand. Reaching an arm out he was inches away from his collar. Just a little more speed. And...

Concrete. Pain shot through Lance’s knee then his hip and then his arm, tattoos scraping out along his forearm where his suit didn’t reach. Damn that three-quarter length aesthetic. He spun around on the floor, feet slipping underneath him. He’d trodden in a puddle of oil.

Click.

The gunman was looming over him, weapon pointed directly between Lance’s eyes. He had a brief second for fear to strike through him like a lightning bolt before a flash of red shot in front of him. He heard the gun clatter to the ground and the huff of someone getting tackled to the floor. Now he got up. Grabbing the gun, he emptied the cartridge and whirled around to find his prey.

The gunman was on his belly on the floor, face smashed into the roof by a rough hand. He’d been pinned by another hero. One in black leather and a red velvet cape that matched the mask surrounding his eyes. Black hair tickled his neck and hung low over his fore head, his eyes just as dark. He was panting, knee forced into the guy’s back as he grabbed cuffs from his belt and shoved trembling hands into them.

Lance was stunned. He’d never seen this hero before. And yet he’d saved him. A vote of thanks hanging off his tongue, he was interrupted by a warning.

‘On your left.’

With only a second to feel dazed, Lance whipped around. One of the henchman had joined them on the rooftop and was now running directly at Lance. He ducked, throwing his foot out to knock them off of theirs.  
They rolled to their feet and as soon as they touched the rooftop Lance struck, freezing the oil to stick them into place.

‘Will that hold?’

Lance glanced back and found the new hero standing behind him, empty handed, ‘where’s your guy?

‘Taken care of.’

Vague. With a cocky smile to boot. Lance felt hot all over.

‘Yeah it’ll hold!’ He stumbled out a little desperately.

‘Good.’

Then his arm was in a tight grip and being yanked backwards. The blue sky above flickered into purple lightning bolts and then suddenly he was staring at the dark bricks of a shaded wall. The alley way below?

‘Uhh?’

A snort. He turned around and the red masked hero was grinning at him. Cocky again.

‘Teleportation,’ he stated before letting go of his arm leaving scorch marks behind. Oh, he thought he was hot!? Well Lance had a few tricks up his sleeve too! Scanning the alleyway ahead, he was able to cast his gaze through the bins and abandoned mattresses. There. Crouched behind the concrete steps leading to the back entrance of a club. Their target.

Lance turned back around and found his new team mate walking in the wrong direction. Lance tutted. Hooking an arm under the other’s elbow, he wheeled him around. Yanking him downwards he pressed in close to his ear, whispering, ‘keep your eyes up.’

Then he let go and shoved the guy forward. The other blinked, stepping carefully forward. Lance ignored him and approached the wall, pressing his hands to it. He leaned over until they supported his entire weight. Then he lifted himself into a crouch on the side of the building. It was disorientating at first, bricks now the sky, blue rising beside him, but he quickly adjusted.

Crawling along soundless, he headed up the wall like a spider until he was balanced right above the offender. She was distracted, poised to attack the other hero. Lance held his breath. Then she pounced. And so did he. The other hero lifted his arms to protect himself as the criminal darted out, but before he could launch a counter attack, Lance collapsed on top of her. Pulling her arms behind her back, he whipped out some cuffs, the other hero only just taking a breath.

Lance grinned up at him, as smug as physically possible.

‘Anti-grav.’ He said simply.

The other fought against a smile and Lance took that as an admission of defeat. Or maybe a draw but Lance preferred to believe he’d won.

Picking up the perpetrator, Lance’s new friend opened up another portal. 

‘I’ll be right back.’

He held up his hand in a salute that was incredibly dorky but Lance was too distracted to tease. On the skin below his wrist was his alliance tattoo. The agency to which he belonged. His chosen side.

Lance groaned loudly.

‘Marmora! Wherefore art thou Marmora?’

The other raised an eyebrow so he peeled back his costume in defeat, revealing the insignia tattooed just below his collar bone.

‘Voltron.’ He responded tiredly.

Voltron being Marmora’s biggest rival. The other flickered away.

Lance sighed, letting his head fall loose on his neck. But after barely a moment of moping a hand grabbed his wrist. Lance flinched, adrenaline still up for a fight but then he found himself back on the hotel roof and a sly voice was speaking.

‘So what’s the problem then, Romeo?’

Lance grinned, flipping around again. This teleporting deal was dizzying but also completely electrifying. His skin tingled with anticipation.

‘None,’ he replied quickly before pulling on his smoothest voice and sexiest smouldering eyes, ‘if you’ll be my Juliet.’

That smirk was back, just how he’d left it - a perfect balance between cocksure and flirty. He watched as the hero attached to it began cuffing the last criminal and decided to be of assistance. Reaching out a hand, he pulled the cold away from the oil, feeling it ripple through his veins like pins and needles.

The foot free and hands cuffed, Lance gave a little prod, ‘so?’

The hero hummed, shoving the criminal towards the edge of the roof.

‘No thanks.’

Lance’s mouth fell agape. He thought they had a thing going!? Instead he was about to get rejected?

‘I always preferred Benvolio.’

And now Lance was intrigued. Was he back in the game? Or was he just being played? Keeping a carefully uninterested tone he asked, ‘why’s that?’

The grin he received in return was dangerous. Like the other knew that Lance was hooked on his line but he had no intention of letting him go or reeling him in.

With a glint in his eye he said, ‘survived the fuckin’ play.’

And then he was gone. Hopping off the rooftop directly into a portal, leaving just a few purple sparks in his wake.

And Lance was left swaying on the concrete, dumbfounded with the image burning onto his retina. He wanted more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! I'm hoping to add more next week ♥


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance's friends are all too happy to learn about his recent hero encounter. Maybe too happy. They did love to tease.

Lance ripped into the office with a huff. Flopping down onto his chair he let his bag fall to the floor with a thud. He looked down at his white shirt now sporting a large brown stain and then threw his paper coffee cup in the bin with disgust.

‘Train asshole?’ Hunk asked from opposite him in a knowing tone. He’d watched the suffering Lance went through on a daily basis, always sympathetic. He had the kind of face that could only be moulded into comfort and Lance loved that. The moment he laid eyes on the big man he knew they’d be friends.

Lance gave a solemn nod and confirmed, ‘train asshole.’

Train asshole was a man. An evil man. A man who had no sense of his surroundings. A man who happened to get the same train to work as Lance - a good man who didn’t deserve this shit. Every day, after buying his morning coffee he’d board a carriage at random and somehow train asshole would always be on the same one. And without fail, he would somehow knock into Lance and send his coffee spilling into him. And the timing. Oh, the timing was perfect because every single day it would happen just as he disembarked, meaning he never saw Lance’s horrified face, never acknowledged his clumsy deed and NEVER apologised. Lance only wished he could wear his super suit to work just so that he could arrest the evil bastard once and for all. But he wasn’t allowed. He had to come in and do the paper work like everyone else and only then was he allowed to don his suit and fight crime. Who said that justice would prevail? Lance called bullshit.

‘Huuunk.’ He moaned, burying his head in the wood of his desk.

‘Don’t worry buddy I gotcha covered.’

Opposite him, Hunk produced a paisley shirt from his desk drawer where a collection had been gathered after numerous incidents. Unfortunately, they were all Hunk sized and Lance was on the leaner side, so they always swamped him. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Lance would never admit it, but he found comfort in the warmth the sheer amount of fabric provided.

As he changed shirts it was like being wrapped in a soft blanket, able to offer way more protection than any super suit could provide. That was a secret though. Badass heroes slept on concrete slabs in pitch black darkness with a knife under their pillow. Actually, that reminded him of someone.

‘Hey, you don’t happen to know any of the heroes from Marmora, do you?’

The room fell silent, a few gasps echoing in the distance. Lance glanced around nervously, ‘just thinking aloud don’t mind me.’

Hunk leaned forward eyeing the rest of the office until they got back into their work. ‘Why’d ya want to know?’

Lance shifted in his seat, pulling at his collar, ‘I may have bumped into one.’

‘Really!?’

Hunk was loud, so loud. Lance winced practically feeling the ears of his co-workers hone in on their conversation.

‘Little louder Hunk, I don’t think Pidge on the third floor heard you.’

‘Heard what?’

Lance jolted, nearly tumbling out of his seat. The devil had appeared, footsteps silent as always. Lance honestly didn’t know if her superpower was sound manipulation or if she was genuinely that sneaky. Or maybe she’d sold her soul to Satan? Probably a mixture of all three.

‘Pidge!’ He squeaked, ‘we need to put a bell on you!’

‘You know that wouldn’t work,’ she replied smoothly, sashaying around his desk.

Hunk hummed opposite them, ‘accordion shoes?’

‘Hunk that’s genius!’

Pidge gave the two a withering look. ‘So, what’s this about Lance having a thing for a Marmoran hero?’

‘Ah- b-wh-‘ Lance spluttered. He hadn’t said anything of the sort! To Pidge.

‘Not heard that rendition of the alphabet before,’ Pidge commented, so very offensively calm. She hopped onto the desk at Hunk’s side and leaned over until her head could rest firmly on her chin giving her a prime leering spot.  

‘Did they teach it to you?’

Lance narrowed his eyes at her, ‘who?’

‘Your new friend.’

Lance gulped. How much did Pidge really know?

‘Friend?’ He asked, playing dumb in the hopes she was bluffing.

‘More than friend?’ Hunk prompted, and Lance choked on his spit. A high pitched ‘what!?’ burst out of his throat without warning.

‘He said Marmoran friend.’ Pidge explained simply, suspiciously level. As if trying to imply that Lance had been hearing things. He had not! Hunk had definitely said ‘more than friend’ she was just messing with him. Right? Oh god. It was hard to think straight with all this heat rushing through him and that smirk running laps in his mind.

Lance took a deep breath, knowing his skin was probably doing more of the talking anyway. ‘He was just a passer-by. I was just wondering if you guys knew anything about him. For science.’

That seemed to silence them. “For science” were the magic words that unlocked his friends’ minds. As soon as Lance uttered them, facts and theories would be rolling through their heads and they’d instantly become heavily invested in whatever problem Lance proposed, no matter how ridiculous. Learning for the sake of learning was one of their favourite hobbies and Lance wasn’t ashamed to capitalise on that.

‘Hunk can I borrow your computer?’ Pidge asked, despite already having her hands on the keyboard and tugging it over to herself.

He agreed and she began furiously typing commands. Then Hunk took to interrogation.

‘So this guy, what was he like?’

Lance thought back to his encounter. The few words spoken, the quick actions, the wry smile.

‘Kind of cocky.’

Pidge raised an eyebrow, ‘sure that wasn’t you?’

Lance made an offended noise, ‘no, I am a delight.’

‘So that means he wasn’t?’ Hunk’s eyebrows were pinched with concern as he barrelled through questions. ‘Was he rude? Did he pick a fight? Did he aid the criminals!?’

Lance sighed. ‘No. Well maybe the rude part. But it was more like he was to the point. I don’t think he was trying to belittle me or anything like that?’

‘Then what was he trying to do?’

Lance blushed. He didn’t even have time to fight it, his brain flipped a switch when he thought about the guy flirting with him. Pidge grinned.

‘Got it, he was trying to fu-‘

‘HOW’S THAT COMPUTER GOING PIDGE?’

Hunk’s words boomed over Pidge’s vulgar ones, drowning them out but not before she’d made her point. And she knew it, smirking at Lance who was now a bonfire in their office. 

Lucky for him, she decided not to comment on the behaviour, instead revealing more about her investigation.

‘A litttle while ago I made a database on all the Marmora agents we could find out about.’

Well that was unexpected.

‘Why?’

Pride shrugged, ‘got bored one afternoon. I’ve done one for Voltron too.’

Hunk nodded sympathetically. Lance’s was more of a confused one. How exactly did boredom lead to useful work and not high scores on pointless apps? She pressed on.

‘So what did he look like?’

Lance shrugged, ‘kind of like an emo?’

It’s not like the guy had a specific look. It was more of an aura, or a lasting feeling.

‘He had that whole brooding smoulder thing going on.’

His friends were grinning and now Lance was completely lost.

‘I’m glad to see your crush is coming along nicely but I meant costume. Like cape, glasses, gloves et cetera.’

‘Oh.’

Could he flush any darker?

‘Aw buddy, you’re smitten,’ Hunk cooed unhelpfully.

Lance squirmed in his seat. This tangent was not going to happen. He quickly swept into a clinical recount of the man’s costume before it could develop. ‘He had a red cape, red mask and everything else was basically black.’

He didn’t mention the leather for fear that thought would leave him struggling to form sentences.

‘Powers?’

‘Teleportation.’ Lance said firmly, the deeper voice echoing in his mind.

‘Got him.’

Lance was at the other side of the desk quicker than a whip. Teleportation had nothing on him and jeez could he look any more desperate? He glanced sheepishly at his friends.

‘Thunderstorm Darkness?’

Lance snorted. Yep, that was him.

‘Specialises in stealth and taking down armed robbers.’ Hunk read, ‘like you.’

‘No jurisdiction.’ Pidge added, ‘that must be why you’ve never bumped into him before.’

Lance nodded. And then a little thought slipped its way under the door of his mind. Barely even there really. Miniscule. It totally didn’t have his skin buzzing. But what if they did bump into each other again? Lance wasn’t opposed to a little competition in his territory. In fact, the thought had thousands of tiny sparks fluttering around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! ♥  
> They'll be more action next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance runs into some bad weather

Lance was finally out in the open air again, cape flowing behind him as he patrolled the streets. This was for deterrence more than actual protection since he received alerts to crimes in the area - he didn’t go out looking for them. Soon enough his watch was beeping, the clock face flashing red. Immediately he hopped into action mode, lifting his wrist and clicking open the alert. It was from Pidge.  
_  
Hey Loverboy!_

_There’s a stolen car heading north up Lipton Street. Occupants are two females. One has crowbar._

_Hope you don’t run into any bad weather on the way! x_  


Lance grinned and wait, bad weather? What was that about? It was blue skies and red hot sun today? Tires screeched in the distance, and Lance quickly threw away the useless thoughts. All focus had to be on the case.

High-tailing north, he headed towards the end of Lipton Street where he hoped he could cut the runaway drivers off.

Skidding around the bend, he could see a car smashing the speed limit, weaving around traffic and pedestrians alike. He had about a minute to think. How could he stop them? An ice slip on a busy road could cause a catastrophic accident. And at the speed they were going, he couldn’t simply run out in front of them.

He gazed around at the tall buildings and bustling pavements, trying to find inspiration as his mind sped through simulations. Something caught his eye. A glimmer of purple, gone in an instant. Almost like a smudge formed from staring at the sun for too long. He ignored it, focusing on the car. Another sparkle hit the corner of his eye. A shimmer of lightning bolts, a flash of black and then gone.

Thunderstorm Darkness.

By the looks of it, the other hero was going to teleport right into the car. That would definitely catch them off guard. But then they might lose control. And even if he could portal in through the roof, getting out with all three would be a struggle. He must be intending to talk them down, or maybe take the wheel himself? But at this speed, they were practically asking for a head-on collision.

Lance took action. Yelling for passers-by to leave the roads, he started running high up the side of an office building, closing in on the vehicle.

Reaching out a hand, he sensed out the car for liquids. Bingo. He squeezed his fist, swapping heat for cold as he carefully froze the engine. The car was slowing, unable to run without flowing petrol. He grinned. Taking a chance and maybe a moment of self-indulgence, he looked back into the window to see Thunderstorm’s handiwork.

The driver was nodding vigorously, panic mixing in with the tears in her eyes. She leaned towards the window and the hero reached between the chairs to take over the wheel. He was going to get them to a safe stop! Lance sighed in relief. Then he noticed the other girl.

Anger. Pain. Frustration. Her lip curled and the vein under her temple throbbed. She threw her arms down under her seat. Lance’s heart stopped. The crow bar slid easily into her hands and she lifted it, about to strike.

Instantly, Lance’s composure snapped. Before he’d even thought about it, his hand had moved to aim at the girl. He yanked the heat from her blood, flash freezing her wrist. The crowbar clattered to the floor, the girl’s hand now a robotic claw. She let out a screech, and the car took a sudden swerve. Lance couldn’t act fast enough. The bonnet smacked into a lamp post with a massive crash, metal crumpling like foil.

The street was silent for a second, the only sound being Lance’s heartbeat ringing in his ears. And then three figures collapsed onto the street, surrounded by flickering sparks. Thank God.

Lance ran forward as two police cars whirled onto the road cutting off the exit routes.

Ignoring the two criminals, Lance offered his hand out to his rival hero, winking down at him.

‘Thought you could use some assistance.’

The other blinked up at him, dark eyes stark against the red fabric surrounding them. Then he glanced to the side. The two girls were getting cuffed, one’s wrist still blue. The man smirked, taking the outstretched hand.

‘Impressive.’ He noted, getting to his feet. And just as Lance was about to let go, there was made a sudden tug on his wrist and he stumbled forward. Breath fell on his ear as a dark voice whispered, ‘ironic power for someone so hot.’

Lance blanched, mouth falling open with no strength to move it back. He could only watch as the guy let out a burst of laughter, eyes squeezing shut with reddening cheeks and before Lance could even think to make a comeback, he was just a scattering of sparks. Damn him and his gnome-like joy. Next time, Lance was going to floor the guy with how smooth he could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So chapter 1 was Romeo and Juliet and chapter 3 is Gnomeo and Juliet?? ( ^ ᗨ ^ ) 
> 
> Thanks for reading!! ♥


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance defeats some unusual crooks with the help of a certain hero that pops up out of nowhere, infuriatingly smooth as always.

Rushing through his patrol report, Lance’s fingers clacked across the keyboard in record time with, well, an awful lot of typos that could’ve been avoided. Never mind. He sent it off with a monumental click and then immediately ripped open his desk drawer. A second later a leather-bound notebook landed on the table top with a slap. Lance grabbed a pen from the pot beside his monitor and tore off the lid with his teeth. Then the book was open, pages flying to a random stop and he was furiously scribbling down ideas.

This thing, with Thunderstorm Dark-emo, was a war. And these were going to be his crucial battle plans. Soon, the paper was covered with pickup lines categorised by superpower, various puns based on thunderstorms and thousands of comebacks for flirty insults. The margins were filled with several doodles of the ridiculous cape and leather combo, complete with arrows pointing out the stupidity as if it weren’t obvious. Lance barely noticed his colleague staring at him.

‘You got a vendetta against dead trees?’

Lance blinked up at Hunk, eyes struggling to focus on him being in full colour and not on the end of his pen.

He shrugged awkwardly, ‘just had some ideas I wanted to get rid of. Y’know so they don’t get stuck in my head or forgotten forever.’

Hunk nodded slowly.

‘Right. And it’s definitely not to do with the fact that you bumped into a certain someone yesterday?’

‘Wha-!?’ Lance shrieked, arms falling over his paper despite knowing that Hunk could not have seen his ramblings from all the way on the other side of the table. ‘Who would I have even bumped into!? Hunk, you read too many gossip magazines!’

He forced out a laugh to punctuate the sentence, making his plight that bit more unconvincing.

Hunk shook his head, fighting a smile, ‘you’re like an open book.’

Lance resented that. Sure, he was a blushing mess with no volume control, but he hadn’t mentioned Thunderstorm once.

‘How do you know these aren’t designs for a new costume I’m working on?’

Hunk pondered that and Lance ran a little victory lap in his head. Turns out the track had hurdles.

‘You wouldn’t have used lined paper for that.’

Lance frowned before countering quickly, ‘well maybe this is the only paper I have.’

‘Or maybe you’re writing about how you’ve got the hots for a certain rival hero.’

Hunk wiggled his eyebrows like caterpillars on steroids, and Lance almost fell for them. But he hadn’t expected his friend to give up too soon. He’d simply been biding his time to find a loophole in the argument, and he’d found one.

‘Nope! If that were the case, I would have done it yesterday seeing as that was the day after I’d seen him.’

‘Ah-ha!’ Hunk cried triumphantly, and Lance startled at the excitement. ‘That’s not true, Thunderstorm Darkness was out patrolling north side all of yesterday afternoon! It would be impossible for you to not have seen him!’

‘Hey-’ Lance began with fire but then cut himself off sharply. ‘How do you know he was patrolling north side yesterday?’

Hunk was out of words now. Lance swore he could see the telltale ripple of him gulping spit down his throat as his gaze flittered around the room

 ‘Lucky guess.’ He mumbled, and then he was picking up his keyboard, and swivelling his mouse across the desk.

‘Wow, jeez, this report.’ His words were staggered and broken, and he was glued to the screen like he’d just found an article claiming to disprove gravity. ‘I’ve really gotta, yeah, knuckle down mmhmm. Better get super duper focused right away. Talk later hmm.’

Hunk was a really bad liar. Like award winning. He’d nod excessively, drip with sweat and drop random words into sentences. Like he was doing now. Lance narrowed his eyes.

‘Okay sure.’

Hunk didn’t even respond. Instead his nose crinkled as he got ever closer to the screen. Lance slowly got back to his book but his motivation had slipped. Hunk was glancing at him every five seconds and simultaneously pretending not to. It wasn’t exactly focus inducing.  


 

 

 _Suspicious activity reported at Olkari Electronics. Survey the area. BE SUBTLE_.  
  
Like that sentence? Lance snickered at his own wit before slipping through the crowd and into criss-crossing back alleys. It wasn’t going to be a shortcut, probably adding five minutes to his journey time. But it was SUBTLE. Like he always was, thank you very much Pidge. Plus, this particular route would spit him out directly in front of the family run tech shop.

Turning the final corner, the shine reflecting off the front windows blinded him even from the shadows. He could just make out the purple sign, pristine but definitely designed in the eighties. The name grew clearer as he drew closer, but sticking in the shadows meant the building beside him blocked out most of his view of the shop.

This wasn’t going to work.

He tapped his nails against the bricks, looking at the blue just poking out from behind the rooftops above. What were these buildings anyway? He switched to his x-Ray vision, looking through the wall in front of him and shuddered.

Concrete floor was covered with an explosion of glass, spreading below a loosely boarded up window. Any furnishings were ghostly figures, angles hidden under large white sheets. There was an array of crumpled beer cans and old crisp packets dotted along the floor.

But it was empty of people.

Lance crept over to the other side, walking along the wall towards an entry point. The side door stood atop a few concrete steps and was a grey metal that belonged on a submarine. The window was barred up and milky with age. And it was not only locked but chained up with three thick padlocks that crossed between the railings boxing it in.

Lance tugged on them, and an ugly metallic clanking rang out to poison his ears. He winced and tried pushing the door instead. It had no give either and the window barely registered his incessant prodding.

‘Ahem.’

Lance’s eyes flew wide open at the sound, and he whipped around like a coiled rubber band sent loose. His back collided with the chains, head banging into the metal like a gong.

‘Having fun?’

Thunderstorm, the brat, was stood opposite him wearing that stupid know-it-all smirk. He made a show of looking Lance up and down in disapproval. Caught off guard again!? This just wasn’t fair.

‘I’m working, actually.’

The other hooked an eyebrow.

‘On a new life as a thug?’

‘Who’s saying new?’

Thunderstorm’s lip twitched and he dropped his head to hide his smile. He started to make his way closer.

‘Yeah, no you’re definitely not a thug.’

Lance bristled.

‘Uh what makes you so sure?’ He could be a thug. He was cool. Not that being a thug was cool. Just stereotypically cool. Badass. That was Lance.

Thunderstorm snorted, already on the step below him, ‘you’re way too vanilla.’

‘What!?’ Lance shrieked. ‘Where’d you even get that idea from!?’

The man was now on the same step as him and drew impossibly close. His hand landed on Lance’s chest and his heart flew out to meet it. Dark lidded eyes pulled Lance in, focus stolen by pupils blown wide. A deep voice spoke, soft like a whisper, ‘from everything you do.’

And then the heat was gone, and the other hero leaned back against the opposing railing, air of satisfaction rolling off him.

‘See, vanilla.’

Lance’s mouth dropped as heat rushed to his face. How did he get away with this every-time they met!? Lance needed to get a grip on the situation before he completely lost his reputation. He reached deep, finding a devilish smile hiding in the depths of his soul. He leaned forward.

‘Well, you haven’t seen it all,’ he oozed before giving a flicker of his eyebrows, ‘yet.’

The other blinked and Lance’s heart swelled. Finally, he’d got in a punch. A counter attack to wipe that smug face clean. The satisfaction was his.

‘Are we gonna stand here all day or you gonna tell me what you’re up to?’

Oh, Thunderstorm was a bad loser? That made the win ever sweeter. Lance shrugged.

‘Suspicious activity at Olkari Electronics. Was gonna stake it out from here.’

‘Oh.’ Thunderstorm hesitated for a second. Then he threw his foot against the railing behind him and propelled himself forward. ‘Well I can help with that.’

Lance didn’t have time to refuse before his wrist was wrapped in a rough hand and he was yanked through a portal that ripped open in front of them.  


  
‘Kind of a dump.’ Thunderstorm noted as he stared around the damp walls, purple flickering out behind them.

Lance didn’t take notice, making a beeline for the front window. Glass crunched under his feet as he arrived at the square of cork board nailed haphazardly to the wall. He bent his knees and peered through the slats.

Olkari Electronics was in full view, the large front windows giving him sight of the whole shop. It was reasonably busy, mostly filled with old people poking at devices and nagging staff. There was a group of teenagers in the corner, hoods up as they gathered around one of the smart phones on display. That must have been the suspicious activity reported. Hooded hooligans probably just taking advantage of the free filters.

Lance sighed.

‘They stealing something?’

Lance jolted. He could feel the other hero’s body heat with how close he’d decided to stand, peaking through the window next to him.

‘Doubt it.’ Lance replied with a sigh. It was probably just one of the old biddies with a few too many hours on her hands. He looked back over to one as she struggled to type something with one finger that retracted a metre after every touch. Lance’s heart went out to the sales assistant next to her. What a trooper. His eyes drifted beyond her then snapped to attention.

With the assistant’s back turned, an old man stuffed a tablet into a plastic bag, winking at the frail lady who had a face opened in shock over having seemingly pressed the wrong button, the assistant all but fawning over her.

Cheeky sods.

‘Did you see that!?’

‘See what?’

Thunderstorm was a picture of utter confusion as Lance threw his finger against the window.

‘THAT!’

Eyes flickered between him and the store and Lance threw out his hand to shove the other’s head into the right place, fingers knotting in his long hair.

‘The old man in the khaki jacket. Watch him.’

The hero’s eyes were fierce as he stared out, golden light slicing across them to illuminate the exact moment they widened.

‘He stole a router!’

Lance nodded excitedly, ‘she plays distraction while he takes the bounty! And no one suspects them because they’re sweet little old people!! It’s damn genius!’

‘You gonna go stop them?’

‘Hell yeah! Get us one of your magic portals Dark Lord!’

Grabbing onto the others arm, Lance geared himself up, ready to burst with excitement. Patience long gone, he needed the portal there instantly.

‘What’s taking so long?’

He glanced up to Thunderstorm who quickly looked away.

‘N-nothing!’

Sparks crackled to life, but Lance’s gaze lingered a second longer. The light was dim but he could’ve sworn the usually stoic expression was squishy - lips pulled in and eyes softened. The eyes flicked to Lance’s and immediately bounced back like a boomerang. The arm in his shifted and the expression quickly became smooth once again. He spoke with determination, ‘let’s go.’  


  
Customers startled as the two heroes suddenly appeared in the doorway of the small shop. Lance sent them a winning smile, letting Thunderstorm stand as a blockade whilst he strode forwards.

‘Excuse me sir!’ He sang, slipping between brightly lit displays and pristine tables. The old man he’d spied moments earlier backed up towards the register, tugging his plastic bag closer to his body. Lance kept his tone light and smile wide, ‘may I please take a look in your bag?’

The man shook his head, shrugging down into his shoulders and casting once round laughing eyes into a threatening glare. ‘You have no business with me, stop making demands.’

Lance’s grin widened, ‘it was a simple question sir.’

The wrinkled face dropped into a frown. The bag moved further into his large coat. There was some shifting behind him, customers getting over the initial shock and watching the scene play out. He could use them

‘My job is to protect this city and its people.’ He nodded to the crowd around them, letting their eyes pour on the pressure. ‘To do so I need to check the contents of your bag. Will you help me do my job?’

The man’s eyes flickered around the room, gnarled hands beginning to shake. He tried to step back but hit the counter, a metallic ring echoing through the store.

Lance hummed, dropping his friendly aura, ‘or do you have something to hide?’

The air turned to ice around them, not a single person daring to take a breath.

Then it cracked. The man threw down his bag and dashed in the opposite direction. His old joints made his movements awkward and every footfall jolted his entire body, shaking keys and change. Lance grabbed him before he’d even got past the first bench.

‘That’s what I thought.’

He pulled the man’s hands into cuffs as Thunderstorm emptied the bag of stolen goods. The tablet, router, several pairs of headphones, and a smattering of velvet boxes fell onto the counter. Lance shook his head, ‘you’ve been busy.’

The man didn’t answer, futilely pulling at his restraints. Lance sighed, ‘you weren’t working alone though, were you?’

He swallowed, but valiantly kept his silence. Lance let his focus fall on the white-haired woman, ‘you gonna come quietly.’

She held his gaze with her wrinkled one before letting out a snarl. ‘Not on your life you little shits.’

And then she sent her arm flying across the table, smacking phones to the floor. An elbow dressed in a pastel cardigan rammed into the assistant’s ribs, and she tore towards the door in her socks and sandals. Lance was awestruck. This woman had guts and he kind of wished she was his granny.

Before she got to the door, a storm exploded in front of her. 

No time wasted on formalities, Thunderstorm grabbed her fists before she could land a punch, ‘you’re going to the station.’

He glanced over at Lance, standing like rock whilst the woman tried to thrash her way out of his grip. The grimace told him it was time to leave.

‘Sorry for the interruption folks! We’ll leave these two to the police, who will be in touch. Enjoy your day!’

The room remained stunned as Lance tugged his cargo towards the other hero. He grinned at him on arrival.

‘Having trouble?’

‘I’m fine.’ He hissed, dodging a veiny leg as it hurtled towards his shins. Sometimes Lance forgot this was a generation who had survived wars. He let out a giggle but didn’t tease the other hero further, even though he was being beaten up by a granny.

Despite this fact, Thunder formed another portal and let Lance step through in front of him.

Lance’s stomach twisted as he found himself stepping out into the station on the other side of town. His head swum but he managed to focus his energy on gripping the old man turned thief until an officer took him off his hands.

‘Well this is unusual,’ the woman behind the desk chuckled. She had round freckled cheeks and eyes that shone with constant mirth.

‘Nyma!’ Lance exclaimed, falling onto the desk, ‘be careful with those two! They’re way tougher than they seem!’  
He looked over his shoulder as Thunderstorm tried to pass the woman to an officer whilst avoiding getting hit in the face. He was clearly flustered and his brow twitched in irritation. It was fun to see him lose his cool and Lance found himself leaning back on the desk to watch.

‘I meant you appearing from a portal.’

Lance flinched as Nyma’s breath fell on his ear. Heat rushed to his cheeks.

‘It’s not that unusual for heroes to work together!’ he said loudly in an unnecessarily high pitch.

Nyma let out the air in her nose. ‘It is when you’re from different agencies.’

‘It is?’

Nyma nodded, ‘y’know what’s even more rare?’

‘What?’

Nyma drew closer, light from the desk lamps dancing in her eyes as a wicked smile dragged itself onto her lips, ‘you’re reaction.’

What!? Lance’s heart beat like it had hit the motorway. He forced his eyes to fall into a glare, folding his arms tightly across his chest, ‘what are you trying to imply?’

The girl shrugged, throwing long blonde hair over her shoulder, ‘just an observation.’

Lance tutted loudly.

‘Is there a problem with the arrest?’

Thunderstorm was in front of him, head cocked to the side and vacant of expression. His hair poked up in odd places, and his mask was skewed off centre. Lance reached out his hand before he quickly came to his senses. What was he thinking!? That would be way too familiar! He moulded his fingers into a point, ‘you’re a little crooked.’

‘Oh.’ The man adjusted the fabric himself, not questioning Lance’s movement. Then he ran a hand through his hair, combing through the tangles. ‘She was not up for going quietly.’

Lance let out a laugh, dropping his tense stance, ‘glad it was you and not me.’

The smirk was back. But Lance found himself buzzing with something other than fury. ‘Yeah she would have eaten you for breakfast.’

Lance let out an offended noise and Thunder tried to hold in his laughter. His cheeks puffed under his eyes and his lips glowed bright pink as they split open. Lance couldn’t look away. It began turning, Thunder heading for the door and Lance shook his head, jogging after.

‘Y’know what, you’re probably right. I’m ace at charming the old ladies at bingo night, I really couldn’t fight them.’

Thunder raised his eyebrows. ‘Bingo night?’

‘Yeah,’ Lance gloated, ‘you’re talking to royalty here man. I’m a bingo champion.’

He let each letter pop off his tongue as he lifted his chin with pride. Thunder laughed loudly, hand not moving fast enough to cover the sound as he snorted. Lance preened at the noise.

‘Well, my liege,’ the hero said as his laughter tapered off. He leant into a deep bow, before grinning wildly. Lance’s stomach swooped. ‘Would you like me to drop you off at the bingo hall?’

Lance shook his head, ‘I’ve still got three hours left on the clock.’

‘Seedy alleyway it is.’

Lance let out a breath of laughter. Thunder waved his hand in-front of them, scattering bolts in the air until a wavy dark oval formed.

‘See you around.’

Lance grinned, ‘thanks. I’ll be sure to think of you next time I see a creep in a dimly lit passageway.’

Thunder gave him a warning glare, but Lance just laughed, leaping through the portal before he got an earful.

The alley was just as he’d left it but somehow felt emptier. The rest of patrol, the feeling crept after him.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got out of hand lmao 
> 
> Thanks for reading! ♥


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance helps Thunderstorm out and ends up giving him something important.

Pidge and Hunk were huddled around Hunk’s computer when Lance arrived at work. They didn’t notice him and he began lazily unbuttoning his coffee-covered shirt (courtesy of Train Asshole) as he addressed them, ‘what are you guys up to?’

The two leapt upwards like they’d been electrocuted.

‘Nothing!’

Lance hummed, ‘doesn’t seem like nothing.’

‘Well things aren’t always what they seem. Need a new shirt?’ Hunk eyed him expectantly and Lance faltered. He nodded slowly, peeling off his soiled one.

‘You should really invest in some brown ones and save yourself this hassle.’ Pidge stated, watching the exchange.

That was definitely a deliberate subject change. Lance wasn’t sure what to make of it. He’d never seen his friends act like this before. But maybe there was good reason? He didn’t want to embarrass them or put them in an awkward position so took the bait.

‘That would mean letting that jerk win and I will do no such thing.’

‘Does he even know he’s winning though?’

Conversation flowed easily now and Lance relaxed into his usual routine, the incident slipping away.

 

 

Patrol was quiet. The sun was high in the sky and a warm breeze brushed through the trees painting gloss on the green.

Lance cut through the park, hands in his pockets as he gazed around. A few kids were running around playing frisbee, an old couple were feeding the ducks beside the pond and office workers strode along the paths with papers flickering against their chests. 

‘-got up there, you can get down.’

Was that? Lance followed the stern voice to a now familiar sight. The hero, Thunderstorm Darkness, was frowning up at a tree with his arms crossed and an impatient foot tapping at the ground. He clearly wasn’t prepared for a day frolicking in the park, and may as well as have been photoshopped in. Lance grinned. He slithered over to a nearby tree and threw himself against it. Swinging one foot over the other, he folded his arms and settled into a smug feeling.

‘Well if it isn’t Blunder-storm Dork-ness.’

The dark hero startled. He shifted his gaze to Lance and his mouth parted but no words left the thin lips.

Lance gasped, ‘have my good looks rendered you speechless?’

‘Oh thank goodness you called back up!’

Lance jumped at the woman’s voice, leg falling to his side as he stumbled to maintain professionalism. He hadn’t noticed her before, but there was a round woman hidden behind the black hole of a man. She was tugging desperately on Thunderstorm’s arm, pushing into him as she tried to get a look at Lance without letting go of his bicep. Thunder let out a shiver, and eloquently spoke.

‘Uhhh...’

The woman didn’t wait for more, already speaking again, and leaning impossibly closer ‘please help me, my boy is stuck!’

What? Lance finally tore his gaze to the thick foliage looming over them and sure enough there was a child with graze covered limbs crushing a branch with his tight hold. His face was screwed up with pink shiny cheeks and he kept it buried in the wood.

‘I mean,’ the woman continued, shaking her head and talking a mile a minute, ‘I should have seen this coming, I really should. I mean, he climbs everything. Furniture, cabinets, walls, scaffolding. I try, I really do-‘

Wow she was a talker. Even for Lance. Thunderstorm seemed to have picked up on this if his pained expression was anything to go by. And if not, his stiff shoulders and prominent neck veins were pretty compelling evidence. How long had he been at this? Lance fought the urge to laugh.

‘No worries ma’am, your local Voltron hero is here to help!’

Thunderstorm rolled his eyes but didn’t argue probably because all his efforts were going into not blowing up at the woman who was once again blabbering.

‘Oh a hero of Voltron too!? My, that really is an honour. Y’know, just bumping into one handsome young man was lucky enough let alone two!? Y’know if the men my a-‘

Lance tuned the noise out, giving the suffering hero a pat on the back before cracking his knuckles.

‘Really ma’am it’s on honour to help a woman as lovely as yourself.’

She swooned, falling further into Thunder much to his dismay and launching into another saga about dashing heroes and disappointing men. Lance laughed loudly as he made his way up to the tree trunk. It was time to show them how the professionals did it.

Climbing was easy when he could shift gravity at his command. With no risk of falling, Lance elegantly jumped from branch to branch, reaching the shaking child in no time at all.

‘Hey buddy,’ he said on arrival, crouching in front of the child as his cape billowed out behind him. ‘You got yourself in a bit of a pickle here, huh?’

The child peered up at Lance through his lashes but refused to budge. Lance gave him an encouraging smile

‘Well,’ he began, holding the child’s gaze as he shuffled back. Lance extended his legs, getting to a hunched, standing position within the leaves. Then he winked before letting his weight fall to the side and slipped over the branch.

The child let out a shriek.

‘You’re in luck!’

Hesitantly the child peered down and as soon as he did Lance was there to send him a triumphant grin, hanging like a bat. A tut sounded below and Lance spared a glance to Thunder who was shaking his head, clearly fighting a smile as the woman beside him bit at her nails. Lance sent him a quick wink before flipping back around the branch again.

‘See I’m a big fan of climbing, mama says I should have been an acrobat.’

The kid stared as Lance began balancing dramatically on one foot.

‘But I decided to be a hero.’ Then he hopped off the branch only to catch himself by one hand. ‘Want some help?’

The kid nodded, and slowly unwound his arms to get into a seated position. Lance easily swung himself back up, landing in front of the child.

‘Ready for some fun?’

The boy beamed, lifting his arms open to Lance. With a whoosh, Lance scooped him up and tucked him over his hip.

‘Hold on!’

Wind rushed around them as Lance leapt over to the next branch. A delighted laugh sailed through the air and he launched them onto the next, long legs doing most of the work. He danced them around the tree, adding theatrical spins and extra swings as they made their way to the ground, grinning like they were on a fairground ride.

With a soft thud they landed on the grass. The boy’s mother was in tears, finally freeing Thunderstorm as she scrambled to get the two under her arms.

‘Thank you so much!’

Lance laughed off her praises, wriggling out of her grip to place the boy on the ground. As soon as he was down, his mother was scolding him with a wagging finger.

‘Kai don’t you ever do that again. You gave me such a fright.’

The kid, Kai, began tearing up again and was promptly squeezed so tightly by his mother he grew red in the face. Lance decided to leave them to it, stepping away.

‘Nice work.’

Lance glanced to his side and Thunderstorm had fallen into step with him. The ghost of a smile was on his lips and Lance melted.

‘Yeah, well climbing is kind of my speciality.’

The other shook his head, ‘I meant calming the kid.’

‘Oh?’

Dealing with the kid had been the easy part. Lance hadn’t even considered it a skill - he just treated the boy like how he would his nephew when he got scared. Which happened pretty often given that he was the pushover uncle who would let them watch horror movies if they gave him even just a hint of puppy dog eyes.

‘You not good with kids?’ Lance asked carefully.

Thunderstorm shrugged, ‘I dunno. I guess I just don’t really get them.’ He scratched at his neck and Lance nodded, before feeling sly.

‘So the great edge lord has a weakness?’ He teased.

The other recoiled before immediately rolling his eyes and forming what could only be described as a pout on his lips. Lance fought the urge to coo.

‘I’m not an edge lord.’

The urge grew stronger. He channelled it into a bump of their shoulders, ‘your name’s Thunderstorm Darkness.’

The hero huffed, throwing his arms across his chest but Lance caught the tips of his ears tinting red and was affronted with affection. The cocky facade was down, demolished by a wave of embarrassment and it made him seem so much more human. Whilst Lance had enjoyed their usual banter, this change of pace gave it depth. Like he’d been given a window into the real hero. Lost in the thought, he didn’t even hear the mumbled reply.

‘What?’

‘I said,’ the other huffed, radiating heat, ‘my real name is Keith.’

Lance’s heart stuttered. He hadn’t been given a window, he’d been offered a fully open door. Identity was important. For some heroes, it was a matter of life or death. Their name was the last defence against dangerous criminals - a ticket to escape and lead a quiet life when all else failed. To give someone your name was to give them your trust. Lance’s heart raced. The conversation had shifted now, to something more intimate. His stomach felt warm.

‘Lance.’ He said quietly, feeling every letter roll off his tongue. The wind tickled his ears, the smell of soil filled his nose and his breath stilled in his chest.

‘Lance.’ Thunder - Keith - echoed. It felt like more than just a word. Lance couldn’t stand keeping his gaze away any longer. He looked up and found eyes on him, softened like butter. A smile was tugged up on pink cheeks and Keith began speaking again in a light tone. ‘Thanks for helping me out today.’

‘Y-Yeah, no problem.’

Lance stayed looking for a second longer, knowing it wasn’t necessary, but unable to stop it. A harsh, bluster-filled hero was suddenly rose tinted and soft right in front of his eyes. It was an image he wanted to soak up.

‘I should probably go.’

Oh. Of course. That made sense - they were both on duty. But somehow it still left Lance feeling disappointed.

‘But,’ Keith said and Lance immediately filled with a buzzing kind of hope. ‘We should work together again sometime. Lance.’

His name sounded so good hanging off Keith’s lips, especially when they were cracked into a smile. Lance beamed, ‘yeah. We make a good team.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh finally, I can stop referring to Keith as Thunderstorm Darkness. I'd honestly dug my own grave there hahaha
> 
> Thanks for reading!! ♥


	6. Chapter 6

Lance had noticed a spike in the number of appearances Pidge made on the first floor. But only barely. Most of his life at the moment was passing in a blurry dreamlike daze.

It was his patrol reports to blame.

There was a certain side character that was far too handsome to remain as one. The crimes took a backseat as he envisioned the expressions Keith wore - when he teased him about arriving late, laughed when Lance stumbled out a portal clutching his stomach and, the pièce de résistance, when he blushed when Lance had a foot on a criminal and a winking eye on him. The enjoyment Lance got from desk work was catching up with that of field and he felt like a balloon full of happiness heading into the clouds.

‘Lance.’

He sat up with a jolt, that voice being one that always made his back straighten like a stick. In front of him, Allura stood, tall and glaring but even the frown she wore couldn’t dampen the shine of her intimidating beauty. Dark skin, long lashes and shining hair, even if she hadn’t been trained to kill a thousand men she could do it with just a single glance.

‘Can I speak to you in my office. Now.’

Allura didn’t give him a chance to refuse, although Lance doubted he had the courage to. She ran a tight ship and though kind and fair, she had a strictly no-nonsense policy pinned up behind her door. No-one would dare speak out of turn. But by the sounds of it, Lance had done something wrong. He gulped, glancing over at his friends who watched with wide eyes and mouths, not even trying to reassure him.

‘Thanks for the vote of confidence guys,’ he hissed, before looking at the retreating figure of his boss and realising he was already too far behind. The golden metal doors of the lift were already shutting Allura away when he arrived next to them. He quickly pressed the button for the next one, nerves settling themselves by repeating the movement until the ding sounded and he could make his way up to the top floor.

Outside the looming office, Lance reached for the handle before he stopped. He took a deep breath, pointlessly adjusting his jacket and wondered whether he should try to charm Allura or just shut his mouth. Given her mood, silence would be best.

‘Lance,’ the word came from the other side of the door, and sounded exasperated, ‘you can come in.’

Lance quickly entered, stumbling over his feet. He smiled awkwardly before all but falling into the chair opposite her. Once he’d settled he couldn’t have felt smaller. A thick wooden desk separated them, covered in tall piles of paper and perfectly aligned pens.

Allura made a final few clicks on her computer before sliding the keyboard cleanly away and leaning her arms on the desk, clasping her hands together.

‘Do you know why I’ve called you in here?’

Lance knew better than to answer that. He didn’t trust his voice though so simply gave a weak shake of his head.

‘Your recent patrol reports refer to another hero. Can you elaborate on this?’

Lance was taken aback. She wanted to talk about Keith? He could do that all day, although admittedly not very professionally and he got the sense Allura wasn’t here to gossip.

‘Yes.’ He said carefully. ‘My patrol route seems to align with his so we’ve been helping each other out. Him being Thunderstorm Darkness,’ his voice quietened toward the end and he barely mumbled, ‘a hero of Marmora.’

‘You’re working with our rivals.’ Allura summed up. Lance gulped.

‘I-it’s more of a mutual agreement. He helps me, I help him. We can make arrests quicker like this, and get-‘

‘Lance, I don’t care what sort of agreement it is.’

Lance backed up further in his chair. Allura’s expression was still calm though, even if her words were cold. There was hope for him yet.

‘I care that it’s with Marmora.’

Lance swallowed thickly, before fumbling through his words.

‘Okay I know they’re our rival agency or whatever and we wanna make more arrests than them but surely a couple of joint ones won’t affect the numbers that much.’

Allura sighed, finally moving from her stiff intimidation to rub her forehead.

‘That’s not what I’m worried about.’

Lance hesitated. He wasn’t really following anymore but Allura seemed troubled and he didn’t like that he had something to do with it. When she went full boss mode Lance forgot she was only a few years older than him. She wasn’t scary, just human. Lance leaned forward to catch her eye, ‘is there something about Marmora I don’t know?’

Allura’s eyes briefly flickered to his, a breath wider than usual before she seemed to compose herself. She sat up straight, talking formally once again.

‘There are several hero agencies spread through the city. Although Marmora are our main rival, technically all of them are.’

Lance nodded. Voltron spoke about Marmora all the time because their arrest totals were always neck and neck with theirs. Every month the totals were announced for all agencies, but it was always those two pushing for first place. Lance never bothered looking at the rest. It was Marmora that kept them on their feet, motivated Voltron to do better.

Allura continued explaining.

‘If there was just one agency full of powerful heroes, there’d be no way to regulate them. No one to stop them becoming corrupt. That’s why we have separate agencies.’

Lance nodded again but something gnawed at the back of his mind, ‘but how does this link back to me helping with a few of K-Thunderstorm’s arrests?’

‘Lance,’ Allura sighed. She pulled a tight smile, sympathetic but closed. ‘We can’t work with another agency. It makes a mockery of the system.’

A mockery!? Lance bit back his anger before he spoke, ‘I don’t think two people working together is quite the same as two whole agencies.’

Allura’s features grew pointed, eyes hardening. ‘The principle is the same. I can’t allow you to carry on.’

‘Allow me!?’ Lance fumed. ‘I can do what I want!’

‘Legally, you can’t.’ Allura said matter-of-factly which only boiled Lance’s blood more.

‘You expect me to walk away when I see a crime I can help stop!?’

Allura didn’t even flinch. ‘I expect you to trust that the hero on site can do their job.’

‘And what if they can’t!?’

Allura shook her head, ‘you’re being unreasonable.’

‘No I’m not!’ Lance yelled, slamming his hands on the table. ‘If I see a crime, it is my job to stop it. I’m not just going to stand around worrying about agency politics when someone could be dying.’

‘It’s not that simple Lance.’ Allura said firmly but sounding resigned. ‘Your job is here with the Voltron agency and as part of that, you have to adhere to our rules. If you don’t, you could get fired.’

Lance glared at her.

‘If putting rules first and civilians second is the job then I shouldn’t have been hired.’

  
  
Lance didn’t stop stamping when he left the office, not when he’d entered the lift and not when he’d arrived at his desk. His friends heard him a mile off and quickly busied themselves as if they hadn’t been pouring over Hunk’s screen like they had everyday for the past week. Lance had had enough.

‘Alright what is on that damn computer?’

He didn’t let them answer, pushing past to take a look. Hunk threw himself at the monitor like a human shield but Lance had managed to get a glimpse of the document name.

‘Mamora!?’ He yelped. ‘Why are you writing about Marmora!? What the hell is going on with my life and Marmor-‘

Pidge threw her hand up to catch an invisible tennis ball, and glared at Lance, immediately cutting off his words. She’d silenced his sound waves. He squeezed his fists in frustration, moving his jaw to no avail - she was dead set on keeping him quiet. He sent her a death stare and didn’t let it stop.

‘This doesn’t concern you Lance.’ She hissed, watching the office for any stray ears. Not that it was really a problem for her since she had full control of the waves of the conversation. Lance jerked around to face Hunk instead, who was still pressed against his screen.  
Hunk shook his head.

‘I’m sorry bud. This is a strictly trusted personnel mission.’

Lance wanted to stay mad. But the fight just sank from his body like water from a bath. The bottom line was, he couldn’t be trusted. Lance was bound to mess up somewhere down the line whether it be on his own mission or someone else’s. The laughing stock of Voltron.

He scraped his hands through his hair fighting the urge to cry.

‘Hey buddy-‘

‘Lance? Are you-‘

Lance turned away. Walking without hesitation, he plucked his key from his desk drawer and headed for the locker room. He couldn’t stay in this office anymore, needed to breathe clean air without judging eyes. An extra hour on patrol wouldn’t hurt, he could make up the office time later. Allura would understand. That was if he wasn’t already fired.

He stopped, standing for a moment in the empty basement corridor. His suit was just on the other side of the wall, hanging neatly in the locker room. Where he might not be allowed to enter again. It all became too much. He flung himself against the wall before melting to a puddle on the floor.

Huddled against his knees, water poured from his eyes and he could no longer stifle the sobs that ripped from his throat.

He could be fired. And for what? Being an idiot? Even his friends didn’t trust him to do his job properly. He sunk lower, hiding his face so that he could block out the glaring spotlights over head and hide in the darkness his body offered. Why didn’t he just keep his mouth shut? Or at least agree to Allura’s terms? This could ruin his career. Take away his livelihood. Who else would employ him when he had blatant disregard for the agency and was very clearly incompetent? He couldn’t help people. It was conceited to think that he could save the world. Stupid to think working with Keith was anything but self-indulgence. He buried his head further, tugging at his hair. He was ruined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops sorry for ending on angst!! also even more sorry because i'm not sure when the next update will be as i'm going back to uni next week (and haven't written it yet) so might be too busy! BUT it will happen, just might have to be fortnightly updates instead, we'll have to see :) 
> 
> Thanks for sticking around!! ♥  
> [My tumblr](http://smolstrawberrychara.tumblr.com/) ✿


	7. Chapter 7

It was strange to Lance - walking his patrol route knowing it could be the last time. Every face seemed unique, each holding a whole different life under its simple visage: a teenager losing themselves in their music at the bus stop, a woman dodging the pigeons whilst power walking to work, a man tripping over the pavement and scrambling to keep a bouquet of flowers from hitting the dirt. Lance gave every single one an exhausted smile despite the ache gathering in his muscles. Because now he noticed how fragile it all was.

Even just a petty theft – a phone stolen from where it sat on a café table - and he could see monumental pain in the victim’s eyes. They cowered into their shoulders, sewed their lips tightly together and flinched at every shadow. Only ten minutes prior they were falling back in their chair, laughing heartily from their belly as they joked with the waiter.

Lance had a power. He could keep things how they should be – not just the law, the people too. He could make them happy and it pained him to think that he might have lost that power.

‘Hey partner.’

Lance startled as Keith appeared out of nowhere, easily falling into step next to him. His head tilted to catch Lance’s eye with a lopsided smile that seemed far more natural to him than the smirk. Lance forced one back. It didn’t even feel genuine and he knew Keith had sensed that when his eyes narrowed.

‘Something wrong?’

Oh boy. The wrongness rushed through Lance like a tsunami and it threatened to spill onto his tongue. Lance swallowed it down and mustered up his brightest tone.

‘Nothing to worry about! Don’t want you wasting the energy of your last two brain cells over me.’

He reached up to ruffle Keith’s hair and nearly tripped over his feet. It was so soft! Like the thick fur of a pedigree cat. It was the perfect distraction and his fingers went rogue as they combed themselves through the ends. Keith coughed and Lance immediately recoiled.

‘My brain cells are just fine.’ He stated and Lance couldn’t help but grin.

‘Yes, all two of them.’

He deserved the shove he got, and faceplanted the window of a flower shop with glee.

When he turned around Keith had two fingers on his forehead and was glaring through the pavement. Lance swooped a hand in front of his face and was quickly slapped away. Keith nodded to himself and Lance snorted.

‘Sorry, didn’t realise you and the tar-mac were so serious. I’ll be sure not to kill the romance next time.’

Keith redirected his glare but Lance knew by now it was a thin veil over his amusement, his lip twitching to prove this.

‘My colleague has telepathy.’ He said flatly. ‘Apparently there’s some commotion at a flat near Balmera we need to go check out.’

He grabbed Lance’s hand in a practiced motion, ready to make a portal when Lance pulled back. This had to end. Now. No more distractions.

‘I can’t.’

Keith stopped, turning with a frown. Then his fingers squeezed Lance’s and he was smiling again, head tilted with his mouth.

‘We can take two teleports so that the distance won’t make you ill.’

Lance’s eyes burned. Keith was far too kind to him. It was making this difficult. He shook his head, tugging his hand out of the other’s hold and clutching it to his chest. It felt cold and heavy.

‘We can’t see each other anymore.’

Lance hated those words. What they meant, what they did. Keith’s mouth had fallen open and hurt fluttered under his lashes. His voice cracked as he asked, ‘why not?’

Lance’s chest ached. His arms dropped to his sides.

‘Look, let’s talk when we’re off duty.’ If there was a crime going on at Balmera, his feelings could wait. He’d caused enough trouble as it was. ‘Meet me on the rooftop where we first met at five.’

‘No,’ Keith insisted, stepping forward, ‘tell me now.’

Lance shook his head. Tears were threatening to over flow from their ducts and his throat felt tight. He didn’t want to do this. He had to do this.

‘Lance,’ Keith pressed, gentle now. His fingers fluttered over Lance’s hand, ‘why not?’

‘Because!’ Lance burst out, ripping his hand away, ‘Heroes from separate agencies can’t work together!’

Keith blinked at him, emotionless. Then his chest was puffing up and his expression became pinched with anger, pupils wavering like anemones in a rockpool.

‘This was just work for you?’

‘Just work?’ Lance’s words became shards of ice. ‘Being a Hero isn’t just work, it’s a duty. Do you not get that?’

‘Oh I get that!’ Keith spat back, fists squeezing at his sides, ‘I just thought there might have been more between us than a fucking patrol route. Guess that was my mistake. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.’

Keith tossed his head away, and Lance’s stomach filled with lead. He’d completely messed up.

‘Wait!’

Keith didn’t listen. Instead he threw himself into a portal, hand whipping diamonds from his cheek as he went.

Lance felt cold. The strength in his body fizzled out leaving him a husk hunched over on the pavement. How the hell could he make anymore mistakes?

 

 

The sky was grey when Lance climbed up the rusted fire-escape of the old hotel. He wandered across the concrete rooftop, over to the little block building that protected the inner stairwell. He sunk down into a crouch and began flicking stones into rainbow tinted puddles. With a beep, his watch blinked five o’clock. Would Keith even come? He was pretty pissed and Lance could understand why.

A purple shine sparkled across the water.

‘Hey.’

Lance looked up to find Keith standing a metre a way from him, arms crossed and eyes downcast. He immediately stood up.

‘Keith, I’m so sor-‘

‘Don’t be.’ Keith spoke emotionless. ‘It’s my fault. I misread the situation and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.’

‘N-no,’ Lance began before thinking back on himself, ‘well I mean-‘

‘Stop.’ Keith cut in, throwing out a commanding hand. ‘Just tell me what you needed to say before I stormed off.’

Lance bit his lip. He at least owed Keith the truth.

‘You weren’t wrong.’ He said, feeling every syllable soak into the drizzle permeating the air.  ‘It wasn’t just work to me. I-I like you.’

Keith’s breath hitched. His eyes were wide as he finally locked onto Lance. ‘Then why can’t we see each other anymore?’

Lance looked at the ground. ‘I’m pretty sure I’ve been fired.’

‘Oh.’ The sound dropped like one of his stones in the puddle, rippling across the rooftop. Feet shuffled and Lance could sense Keith fidgeting. ‘Why?’

Lance took a deep breath but it didn’t do much to abate the anger that simmered within him as his earlier conversation with Allura flooded back.

‘Because agencies aren’t allowed to work together!’ He cried, clawing at the dewy air. ‘Hasn’t your boss said anything about your patrol reports?’

Keith shook his head and stuck out his bottom lip. ‘No, Lotor just thanks me for my work and moves on.’

‘Well maybe he hasn’t caught on yet!’ Lance yelled, throwing his hands in the air and marching across the roof. ‘Either way it’s still true! Us working together is a big no-no and me yelling at Allura’s not going to change that.’

Keith took a second before replying, ‘you yelled at your boss?’

‘Yes!’ Lance exploded, whipping back around, ‘I hate this! All of it! Why can’t people just leave each other be? And if they can’t, why can’t I just keep the peace in any way I see fit!?’

He got back to the wall, and threw himself against the concrete. He let his breathing slow down, hanging his head loosely from his neck and let out a meek, ‘why am I such a bad hero?’

‘What?’

Lance whipped back up. Keith’s lip was curled in near disgust and his ear pointed to the ground. Lance squinted at him and that seemed to be response enough for Keith who continued with confidence.

‘You’re a great a hero. What are you even talking about?’

Lance’s mouth fell open. His brain clawed the outer recesses of his mind for a response, but came up short. Keith seemed to find it amusing, laughing around his words.

‘In the past few weeks I haven’t seen you lose a single criminal. And I’ve never seen happier victims! You’re amazing.’

Lance flushed. His skin was in flames and muscles slack. Keith drew closer, crowding him against the wall.

‘Your agency would be dumb to fire you.’

Lance swallowed thickly. ‘Well I broke the rules, so there.’

Keith shrugged. ‘So did I.’ His breath brushed Lance’s cheek.

‘Keith.’ He said calmly, pushing at the other’s chest to move him away. Keith complied but not without a frown. Lance valiantly pressed on, ‘even if I’m not fired, there’s a chance you could be. I’m not risking that.’

‘But-‘

‘No.’ Lance said firmly. ‘This job is a duty and if I can’t carry it out myself, I want you to do it for me.’

Besides that, no matter how much Lance wanted to collapse into Keith’s arms and disappear into his warm embrace, he couldn’t ruin his life too. He needed to be strong.

Pinning on a smile he knew was filled with sadness he leant up to press his lips to the others cheek, lingering on the soft peach fuzz.

‘Goodbye, Keith.’ He whispered and then he let his gaze fall away for the last time. Turning away, he held his breath but couldn’t stop the tear rolling down his cheek. He didn’t dare look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I didn't mean for it to get so sad!! I promise it will get happier xx


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has wonderful friends who look after him :)

Lance finally trudged back to his apartment when the streetlights were twinkling in the raindrops covering his door. When he’d got back into work, the office had been thankfully empty, so he quickly changed out of his suit and headed to the station with his red rimmed eyes left unquestioned. He pinched a threadbare umbrella from the lost and found and hid beneath it the whole journey. Now he was home, he shook out the raindrops and dumped it behind the door. He slunk through the hall, slipping off his soaked jacket sleeve as he entered the front room where he stopped.

Last time he checked he didn’t have any room mates. But, here they were; Hunk kneeling in front of the coffee table rearranging Tupperware and Pidge watching, legs tucked underneath her as she got engulfed by the couch.

‘What are you two doing here?’

Hunk glanced back at him wearing a sheepish smile whilst Pidge just shrugged, barely sparing him a glance.

‘Watering the plants.’ She said flatly.

Lance looked over to the windowsill where his children once gathered, an audience of happy pink buds and sprawling green leaves. Now there were near-empty pots lined up on death row, a few rogue stems desperately trying to find moisture. Lance shuddered.

‘Thanks, I wouldn’t want them to die when I go to Cuba three months ago.’

‘You’re welcome.’

Lance shook his head, shrugging off the last of his jacket and flopping down next to her.

Hunk reached up to place a large hand around Lance’s knee and gave it a firm squeeze. It pumped warmth into his numb veins.

‘Allura told us what happened earlier,’ Hunk said from the floor, ‘I’m sorry man.’

Lance sighed and let his head fall back as he slid limply down the sofa. ‘Am I fired?’

‘No! Of course not buddy!’ Hunk replied quickly, ‘it was a difficult conversation for both of you, Allura gets that. Plus, she values you as an employee, she wouldn’t get rid of you that easily.’

Lance hummed, rolling his head onto the arm rest, ‘but I still can’t see Keith right?’

‘Keith?’

‘Wait,’ Pidge, leaned forward with owl eyes trained on Lance, ‘you two were on first name basis?’

Heat rushed to Lance’s face and he quickly hid it in the sofa. ‘Maybe.’

‘Oh buddy…’

The concerned voice made Lance want to cry. It was one thing feeling sorry for himself, but having someone else pity him too gave it life. He curled into the corner, hugging his knees to his chest and concentrated on keeping his prickling eyes dry.

‘Okay, none of this.’ Pidge commanded, suddenly on her feet and addressing the room with hands on her hips. ‘We came here to cheer you up and that’s what we’re going to do.’

Lance sat to attention, blinking the tears back into their ducts as Hunk nodded in determination. Then everything was moving. Hunk began peeling the lids off the boxes lined up on the table, and steam billowed out in clouds above them. Lance was hit with a sudden waft of onion and spices like he’d just walked past a takeaway restaurant. He followed his nose, leaning in and shutting his eyes.

‘Hunk, where’d you get this from? Because it’s now my favourite place in the entire world.’

Hunk laughed somewhere beyond the heavenly food realm, ‘this is actually just leftovers from my dinner last night.’

Lance’s eyes flew open, ‘you made this!?’

Hunk smiled widely, blush rising in his round cheeks, ‘yeah. Want some?’

‘YES!'

A different voice replied, ‘good.’

Lance started, nearly falling head first into the sticky sauce covering the slices of chicken. He hadn’t noticed Pidge slip out the room and now she stood in the doorway grinning at him.

‘I took the liberty of stealing plates from your cupboard.’ She said as she swanned into the room and placed the mismatching pile on the table in front of them. ‘I like how they’re all plastic.’

Lance rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah, well you get an affinity for them when the home store owner starts referring to you as a regular.’

Hunk laughed but Pidge spoke over him, shaking a hand at Lance, ‘no, no, it was a genuine compliment.’

The laughter stopped abruptly, and Lance shared a look with Hunk before the two stared at her.

‘Wow.’

‘I never thought I’d see the day.’

Pidge glanced between them, worry creeping up her eyebrows. Lance grinned, throwing an arm around Hunks shoulder and shouting dramatically.

‘Our baby Pidge is growing up!’

‘Too soon!’ Hunk cried, matching his drama, ‘the next thing you know she’ll be leaving us for college!’

‘Guys,’ Pidge grumbled, pout on her lips but her cheeks were pink and coo-worthy. ‘It’s not that rare for me to compliment you.’

‘It is!’ Lance shrieked, and Hunk nodded furiously. ‘We should celebrate this day annually.’

‘Exactly! I’m adding it to my calendar right now.’

Pidge rolled her eyes but otherwise didn’t argue as Hunk grabbed his phone and fiercely began typing.  When he threw it back down it made a loud clatter and Pidge pinged back to life.

‘Oh yeah!’ She reached under the table and pulled out a thin plastic box. ‘I brought Spiderman.’

Lance nearly exploded with excitement. He bounced forward on the sofa, hand hitting his knee furiously. ‘PUT IT ON, PUT IT ON, PUT IT ON.’

Pidge laughed, clambering to her feet, ‘of course our resident spider boy is a fan.’

She crouched in front of the tv, swiping at the fairy lights draped across the stand.

‘Don’t these give you interference.’ She muttered, placing the disc on the tray.

Lance shrugged. ‘Doesn’t matter when we have a universal remote at our disposal.’ He turned to the man kneeling at his side, ‘Hunk. Do your thing!’

Hunk shook his head but his point was dampened by his lips pulling open. ‘Alright, but my power isn’t just for your amusement.’

He closed his eyes, facing the TV. Lance watched in awe as Hunks eyelids rolled with movement underneath them. Then the room burst with light as his screen flashed to life. Images popped up like they were flicking through a book as the TV skipped through the trailers all by itself and selected play. Hunk opened his eyes, gazing at it with gooey eyes.

‘Thanks buddy,’ he whispered, stroking a hand against the side of it. Then he blew it a kiss before shuffling back to join the others. Lance giggled behind his hand and Hunk knocked into his knees. ‘It did what I asked, the least I can do is say thanks.’

‘Yeah,’ Lance said with a smile.

Tummy filling with divine food, he sat back and lost himself in the film. The other two eventually made their way onto the sofa, all three somehow squeezing onto the two-seater as they laughed and talked over the sounds of explosions and combat.

Lance was surrounded by warmth, sandwiched by two of his favourite people in the world. He still felt weak, like he’d spent the whole day with a hole in his body that let his strength slowly drain out. But his friends had found it and stuck tape over the wound. Right now, he just felt lucky to have them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made myself hungry writing this lmao  
> Thanks for reading and sticking around for Lance's luck to start turning! ♥


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance returns to work, but the day doesn't go quite as he expected

Lance’s heart was attention-seeking when he arrived at work, knocking insistently against his rib cage. Hunk threw him a shirt which Lance caught without looking. He sighed as he re-dressed himself. At least his desk was still there, things were looking positive.

‘Lance.’

And so, it begins, Lance thought bitterly. He looked up reluctantly. Allura was beside his desk, ducking her head down to speak as if nervous.

‘Could I speak to you in my office?’

Lance gulped, ‘sure.’

She stood patiently waiting as he scraped his chair along the floor and slowly got to his feet. They walked together to the lifts, Lance far more aware than he should be of his own feet and the shuffling sounds they made against the carpet. The lift opened up for them, a demon awaiting lunch, and he caught a brief sight of his withered face in the mirror. His eyes were red-rimmed and grey clung to the skin around them. He had to make a conscious effort to release the tension in his brow and lower his shoulders as he turned to face the doors. They stared blankly back, offering zero comfort. Allura remained silent and his shoulders slowly crept back up to his ears.

The ding of their arrival gave Lance a fright which he quickly covered with a cough, gesturing for Allura to lead the way to her office. She gave him a sympathetic smile which just gave his shoulders that last boost to cover his entire face.

In the office, Allura unlocked one of her desk drawers and dug around until she found a sandy coloured folder. She placed it on her desk, flicking through full pages of writing and scanning over a few. Then she let it shut with a slap and folded her arms across it. Clearing her throat, she began to talk.

‘Lance, I don’t want you getting the wrong idea about our agency.’

Here it was, the conversation Lance had been dreading. He squeezed his fists and dug them into his thighs, fighting the urge to run.

‘Of course, the public comes first. And I’ve never doubted that your actions were to protect them.’

Lance swallowed thickly, he could hear the next word before she said it.

‘But.’

Yep, just as he thought. Here we go. Make it gracious this time Lance.

‘This is a…’ she trailed off, finding the right word, ‘unique situation.’

Lance nodded, biting his lip. He’d spent the entire train ride to work preparing for this -  working out how to thank her for the opportunity to have an incredible job and tell her that he understood that he had acted out of line. That way he could leave with his head held high.   

‘Pidge discovered some unusual activity within Marmora’s Patrol Reports.’

Lance blinked. What?

‘Over the past six months, there have been numerous arrests stated within them, but a simple police check indicates they have not occurred.’

Lance didn’t move, barely processing the fact that he wasn’t getting fired let alone anything else.

‘I know this is quite a shock.’ Allura continued, and he sensed she didn’t quite realise the turmoil Lance was going through in that moment. It was less like shock and more like the whole future he’d resigned himself to over-night was being re-written.

‘Given the sensitivity of the information, we had to keep it a secret from the whole agency. However, I felt I owed you the truth.’

Lance didn’t know what to say. This was not going as he had predicted, and all his prepared sentences were being rendered useless.

‘Although everything I said yesterday still stands,’ Allura continued, tilting her head sternly, ‘and agencies are not supposed to work together, what you said was also correct. You didn’t act out of turn and I’m sorry to have implied that.’

Oh god now he was getting apologised to? Lance could feel his mouth drop open as his eyes grew wetter.

‘Lance, you have a strong sense of duty and that is something truly valuable to this agency, I’d hate for you to resent us.’

Lance blinked wildly, feeling his tummy dip with the compliment. His throat was too tight to push words through.

‘You can see that it would be dangerous for you to continue working with a Marmora Hero at this time. However, I welcome you to join the investigation.’

Allura pushed the folder across the table and smiled expectantly. Lance finally shook himself from his stupor. So, not only was he not being fired, he was getting complimented and being given clearance to work on a top-secret investigation? And then another thought occurred to him.

‘If we can solve this,’ he spoke carefully, leaning forward in his seat and trying to ignore the rush of blood in his veins, ‘would I be allowed to continue working with Thunderstorm?’

Allura’s eyebrow twitched but she maintained her calm aura.

‘We may discuss the issue.’

That was good enough for Lance! He grinned at her, heart swelling enough to fill his chest. It felt like his morning coffee had finally kicked in and he was practically buzzing in his seat.

‘Thank you! So much! I’m gonna solve this so good.’

Allura let out a soft laugh, finally letting her shoulders sag as she sat back in her chair. ‘You are free to go.’

Those were the words striking fear into his soul all morning but now they were a slap on the back, thrusting him forwards. He couldn’t wait to start work. Grabbing the folder, he bounced out the door.

 

 

When Lance got back to his desk, Pidge had an elbow on Hunk’s shoulder and the other slumped forwards as she stared through his screen. Lance announced his arrival by slapping the folder down and falling into his chair so hard that it slid loudly back.

Hunk tore his head up at this. Once he focused on Lance, a beaming smile grew over his lips. ‘Welcome to the team buddy!’

Lance did a happy spin in his chair, wiggling his shoulders at Pidge who gave him a nod of approval.

‘Allura just emailed us!’ Hunk continued, ‘Man, am I excited, we’ve been looking through these-‘

He cut himself off when he noticed Pidge’s glare.

‘I’ll let Pidge fill you in.’

‘Yeah you better do,’ Pidge huffed but with little malice, ‘this is my mission and you’re only on it because you snooped.’

Hunk shrunk into his shoulders and Lance reeled himself forward to lean up on the desk. ‘What happened?

‘Well,’ Pidge began, hopping up on the table and launching into a, clearly long-awaited, tale, ‘back when I first started my investigation, I got Hunk to do his tech-talk thing and download Marmora’s Hero Database so I could match up reports and eye-witness statements, rule out heroes one at a time.’

Lance nodded, Pidge’s plan being logical as standard. She then shot Hunk a glare like a bullet and Lance was glad to be on his side of the desk.

‘But Hunk got nosy and instead of sending them straight through to me, he looked through the entire thing as well as my private file.’

‘It was right there!’ Hunk squawked, throwing a hand at his monitor, ‘how could I not!?                                                                  

‘Like this.’ Pidge said flatly, then clicked the monitor off. She didn’t wait for reaction, looking over to Lance. ‘Anyway, now we’re working together to try to find out who’s responsible for the false reports.’

Pidge acted annoyed but if two people had already spent months on this investigation, she was probably thankful for the help. Lance slid down in his chair, letting his chin rest on his hand. Whoever was doing this really enjoyed wasting his friends’ time.

‘This whole rivalry thing has gotten out of hand.’

Pidge cocked her head, giving him a strange look, ‘that’s not what this is about.’

Lance sat back up. ‘What do you mean?

She sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose, a movement she only did before she was about to explain something uncomfortable. Lance’s stomach twisted.

‘Someone is deliberately making our agency believe dangerous criminals are behind bars by publishing these fake reports. Whilst we’re not watching, they’re free to carry out potentially thousands of crimes completely undetected.’

Oh. Lance suddenly felt very out of his depth. This was far more serious than he thought it was going to be.

‘Yeah, plus the reports are all anonymous,’ Hunk added, ‘even if we work out that a report is telling the truth, we have to find out who’s written it and whether all the other ones they wrote are also true.’

Lance gulped. ‘I’ll get started then.’

Pidge nodded, pointing to the beige folder sat in front of him, ‘the whole stack is in the file, I’ve highlighted the ones we’ve each been assigned, I’m green, Hunk’s yellow and you’re blue.’

Lance bobbed his head, ‘cool.’

‘I’d recommend reading them all through first though. In case you know any are true immediately.’

With Pidge’s knowing smile, tiny flames curled in Lance’s stomach, colouring his cheeks.

‘Yeah,’ he said, already leaving the room for dreamland, ‘guess I’ll know which ones Keith wrote.’

‘Exactly,’ Pidge said with a smirk, ‘good luck.’

 

 

This was a serious case and Lance knew the stakes. However, flicking through the reports he couldn’t help the buzz under his skin that came with the idea of potentially reading Keith’s works – they’re shared adventures from another perspective. Lance was aware that these were formal reports, not mushy love letters, but still, he was curious. Did Keith think of Lance as he wrote them? Did his words reveal his hidden excitement on the jobs? Was Lance even mentioned? He scanned quickly over each one, hoping to catch a glimpse of a side of Keith he’d never seen before.

By the end of the day, Lance was seeing black and white behind his eyelids. It was a full day in the office as well, no patrol, and so he’d spent the entire day sat in a hard chair staring at words. But he was finally on the last one. He stretched his arms high above his head, smiling at the satisfying pop of his back. Slumping over the desk he read the words, barely retaining their meanings. Attempted bank robbery. Armed with water gun. No injuries. One arrest made. Done.

He let the paper flop over his hand before sliding over the desk and letting his head fall onto his arm. God, that was only the fist step of his job. He muffled a groan into his shirt sleeve. Then he froze.

He’d recognised none of those arrests.

And, yeah, maybe he’d miss a couple of attackers running across rooftops but he would definitely notice an elderly couple getting arrested for daylight robbery.

He shuffled through the papers again, desperately searching for any signs that he’d recognised something. A few scribbled words, highlighted arrests or even stupid hearts drawn where he thought Keith could be. But there was nothing. Keith was nowhere.

How could he be nowhere?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof love me a good cliffhanger (^ ᗨ ^) 
> 
> Thanks for reading!! ♥


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is left wondering whether Keith is innocent

Lance’s mind raced. Why wasn’t Keith’s reports there? Were they somewhere else? Was he wrong about Keith’s agency? Was he wrong about Keith? No. He had to stay calm. Taking three measured breaths, he tapped the pile of papers on the table until they were straight and tucked them back into the folder. Clutching it to his chest, he swung around to Hunk’s side of the desk.

‘So, these are definitely all the reports?’ He asked, crumpling the papers to avoid drumming his fingers against them nervously.

Hunk made a few more clicks before he swung back in his seat, ‘yep! You got through them all?’

Lance bit his lip.

‘N-no, I, uh…’ He couldn’t exactly tell Hunk he’d been through them and hadn’t found Keith anywhere – that would be pretty damning evidence against the guy and Lance didn’t want to believe anything yet. ‘I’m just gonna run through the rest of these tonight, try and catch up with you guys.’

‘Well, don’t work too hard bud!’ Hunk said with a grin before throwing a hand against Lance’s back and causing him to stumble.

‘Yeah,’ Lance said, not really sure if that was the right response. He spun around, grabbing his things from his desk and marching out the door.

 

Lance spread the reports across the floor in his apartment, table shoved back under the windowsill to give him extra space. He split them into different arrests types, arranging by date, oldest to newest. There were five reports for the first day he and Keith met yet no mention of armed attackers – something that Lance would never dream of leaving out of a report. A fleeting thought passed over him like a cold breeze. Maybe Keith had simply neglected ever mentioning working with another Hero. Maybe Lance wasn’t that important to him.

Lance flopped back on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Was Keith just messing around? With Lance, with the reports? He seemed just as unaware as Lance had been that Heroes from separate agencies couldn’t work together, but could that have been an act? He was pretty desperate to keep seeing Lance, was there some ulterior motive to that too? But then why didn’t he just tell Lance to lie on his reports too? It would have at least made Lance’s life easier if he had - Lance couldn’t date someone who didn’t respect his sense of duty. Wow, Keith was right, he was vanilla. The thought sent a pang through his chest. Keith understood Lance better than he’d even realised.

Lance let his gaze fall over to his fairy lights sprawled across his tv set. Eyes swimming in and out of focus, he watched the bulbs flicker between soft glows and sharp lines. Keith liked him. Lance couldn’t deny that. He was so honest about it. Not just in his words but his gentle touches, reassuring smiles and unwavering support. And then the fear in his eyes, the hurt in his voice. Lance’s chest ached. He couldn’t have faked that, although Lance wished he had.

The argument came flooding back. Words slashing wounds. Water burning eyes. Keith looked so scared, then so angry and then just resigned. A cold statue of himself on the rooftop. Hope. Confusion.

_‘Hasn’t your boss said anything about your patrol reports?’_

The shake of a head.

_‘No, Lotor just thanks me for my work and moves on.’_

Lance sat bolt upright.

The reports. What if it wasn’t a single Hero faking their reports? What if it was their boss?

He slammed his hands down on the papers. The fonts were all the same, the styles identical. Even the sentence structures. There was barely any variation in them. Even for an agency with a strict code for writing there would be discrepancies between different employee’s works. That’s why it was so difficult matching each hero to their reports! They were all written by one person: Lotor!

He’d solved it!

 

First thing Lance did when he got into work was gather his team in Allura’s office. He fanned his papers across the desk and watched various degrees of confusion cover his friends faces as he explained his discovery.

‘So, it’s Lotor we need to arrest!’ He finished happily, slapping his hand on the desk. His smile faltered when a resounding cheer didn’t meet his revelation. ‘What?’

‘Lance, I’m not saying you’re wrong.’

Allura’s words were like rocks in his stomach and suddenly his shirt was heavy across his shoulders, the cold coffee stain clinging to his skin.

‘But, what we need to do is look at the evidence presented to us.’

Lance didn’t understand. That was the evidence, how could she not see that? He tried again. ‘It has to be Lotor. These reports are all basically identical, and they’re missing key arrests.’

‘Exactly.’ Pidge cut in, analysing the papers in front of them. ‘Keith’s arrests aren’t here.’

Cold poured through Lance’s veins. Puffing out his chest he lifted his chin, ‘yes because Lotor’s been making them up.’

‘That is one theory.’ Allura said, levelling a hand towards him in a frustratingly calm manner, ‘what is concrete is that Keith’s patrol and these reports do not add up.’

Lance had to squeeze his fists to stop them shaking.

‘Keith hasn’t been faking his reports.’ He hissed through gritted teeth, ‘I know him. Hunk, back me up.’

Hunk let his mouth fall agape, gaze flicking around the room. He swallowed hard and Lance felt the remaining threads of hope keeping him stood up fraying away.

‘I know you trust Keith, and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.’

Hunk was looking right at Lance, trying to force his words to sink in but Lance didn’t want them, backing towards the door.

‘But given what we have here, there is a possibility you might be wrong.’

‘But we made the arrests!’ He yelled, fist slamming into the desk, ‘he did his job.’

‘When you were there.’

Lance couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘That means one of us has witnessed his integrity. What about Lotor!? We don’t know anything about him!’

‘Actually, that’s not true.’

Lance blinked, looking to Allura who avoided his gaze. ‘I’ve met Lotor several times at council meetings. I think we can trust him.’

Lance scoffed, throwing is arms across his chest. ‘What so we all trust Allura’s word over mine now?’

Pidge glared at him, holding him to the spot, ‘no, we trust the facts we can see. I don’t want to believe that Keith is committing this crime, but, given the evidence, I have no choice.’

Lance threw his fingers into his hair, letting out a growl of frustration. Proof. He needed proof. Think Lance, think.

‘Alright,’ he finally said. Placing his hands on the desk, he looked each of them in turn before speaking. ‘Give me one week. I will get more evidence.’

The three shared an apprehensive look but Lance kept his determined frown pulled tight, unwilling to back down. Allura nodded, standing straight and talking with authority.

‘Okay. I will allow you one week to prove your theory, but no longer. After that, there would be a very good chance citizens would be in preventable danger and not acting would be against my oath.’

Lance nodded firmly, ‘I understand.’

‘Very well. I hope for your sake, you’re right.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the beginning of the end! Thanks for sticking around, and apologies for the angst my hand slipped ♥
> 
> Side-note: that 13 is subject to change but that's the plan :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance goes to Marmora for evidence

The next few days passed in a research-filled haze. Drinks cans cluttered Lance’s desk, crumpled-up balls of paper filled the gaps between and Lance could be found hunched somewhere in the middle with pen marks scratched across his face. But through it all, he’d managed to gather a vague plan. Which brought him to Sunday evening.

Marmora’s office was smoother than Voltron’s. Sleek silver tables curved through the wide floor space holding modern computer monitors and a startling lack of clutter. It was also much greyer, although that could have been to do with the low light and lack of people. It was about ten o’clock, bang in the middle of the first of the two night shifts, and as Lance had figured the office was quiet.

He was in his Hero uniform: white and blue elastane hiding slim-line armoured plates that rolled across his chest and back, gliding into the sleek blue sleeves that tucked into his elbows. This was to maintain cover and protect his identity. If anybody asked, he was just a fresh-faced intern struggling through their first patrol.

Adjusting his mask nervously, he hid around the corner of the main office. He may have a cover story but bumping into someone still ran a risk of being exposed. Allura’s office was on the top floor of Voltron so he figured, if the set up of Marmora was the same, Lotor’s would be up there too. Leaving the office through thick double doors, he headed up an echoing staircase that twisted one-hundred and eighty degrees every floor with little change in black speckled flooring. The only indication that he’d hit the right level was the lack of further stairs – just an eerie chair placed in the space they’d be expected to occupy. He shuddered, pressing quickly into the adjacent corridor.

It was darker than the previous, lockers lining one wall and the other split up by large black doors with circle windows that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a submarine.

Lance carefully snuck along the wall to peer into the first room. Mannequins dressed in Hero gear were lined up behind glass windows, a wooden bench set up opposite them. Coats and bags were hooked up on the wall above it and Lance figured this must have been where Marmora’s Heroes got ready for patrol, the exact opposite of Voltron’s basement.

Realising he was probably in the wrong place, he shuffled along the hallway anyway just to make absolutely sure - he really didn’t want to spend more time than necessary in the creepy stairwell. The rooms all appeared to be the same and by the last he only bothered to get close enough to glimpse the hero uniforms before he flipped back around. Just as he stepped forward, a click sounded.

Lance froze. Golden light spilled into the corridor behind him, his shadow staring up at him with stiff arms and hardly any neck.

‘Thought I’d find you here.’

Lance swallowed thickly, letting his eyes lead his neck into turning around.

‘Shiro!?’ Came an alarmed voice, and Lance could have fainted with the relief that fell into his muscles. He wasn’t the one in trouble! ‘What the hell!? You scared the crap out of me!’

‘How else am I supposed to get your attention anymore, Keith?’

Keith? Now Lance was frozen for an entirely different reason.

‘Literally, any other way than sitting in a pitch-black room!’

It was his Keith! He sounded exhausted, words half breathed and voice croaky, but Lance felt a pang in his chest none the less. He crept back towards the wall, leaning his head against it to listen in.

‘What, so you can find an excuse to get away?’

Keith didn’t answer that.

There was a sigh, and suddenly the second voice was far less demanding, ‘I know you’ve been sneaking out to do extra patrols.’

Lance’s breath hitched.

There was a noise of protest inside the room, but the voice pressed on, ‘look, I don’t want to know how long this has been going on for, because I dread to think, but I do want you to know that you can trust me. I just want to make sure you’re okay. So, will you tell me what’s going on?’

There was a beat of silence. Lance held his breath.

‘It’s just-’ Keith’s voice broke on the last word and Lance’s heart with it, ‘I miss him.’

Lance’s muscles fell slack. The air dropped several degrees around him, and his heart beat fiercely in his ears.

‘Oh, Keith.’

There was a moment of shuffling in the room behind him before the hum of soothing tones filled the air. Lance blinked furiously, screwing his fingers into fists. He tried to ignore the soft hitching breaths and the muffled sniffs, tried not to let them trigger his own. Whilst the two were distracted he made a break for the stairs, wiping his elbow up against his cheek. This was going to be the last time he would be the cause for Keith’s tears. If Marmora was topsy-turvy then the basement was the place to be.

He took the stairs two at a time, hopping over the banister at every corner until he arrived at the ground floor. From there, the stairwell grew eerily quiet, a plush carpet thrown over the steps, silencing Lance’s footfalls, or anybody else’s for that matter. Apart from the occasional pop of a pipe, Lance was on his own. He tugged his cape closer around his body, throwing his hood up as a precaution.

At the next turning Lance found himself under a huge archway, reminiscent of one at the Colosseum. Through it was a sparkling marble floor, lit by thin horizontal lights running along the diamond pattern. Both sides of the corridor were covered in formal doors, each bracketed by thin pillars and displaying silver plaques with names engraved in calligraphy on them.

Lance scanned the names, “M. Kolivan, S.Ulaz, T. Shirogane” before he let out an involuntary tut, “P.Lotor.”

Stepping back, he switched to use his x-ray vison, checking nobody was in before he pressed his hand against the door. It was locked. Well, he really should have seen that one coming. He let out a sigh, head rocking back on his shoulders. Falling at the last hurdle, classic Lance. Cold air tickled his nose, threatening to make him sneeze and he glared at the source. Above him was an air vent, about as wide as his shoulders and hissing at him through long metal teeth. Switching his vision, he followed the cuboidal pipe to find it travelled right over Lotor’s desk. Perfect!

Just as he’d got his foot on the wall and was about to swap his centre of gravity he realised he wasn’t alone.

‘What are you doing?’

Lance’s hood fell back as he whipped his head to the side, foot hanging in the air. Under the archway was a man, dressed in a grey suit with his collar undone and clutching an assortment of folders at his side. He fixed Lane with a stern look, one Lance recognised from his school days. Clearly, they were both aware Lance was breaking the rules.

‘I was just, uhh…’

The man nodded for him to continue, tuft of white hair bouncing off his forehead. Lance couldn’t help thinking the colour odd given his young face and healthy stance. Although Lance feared him, he couldn’t help think of Allura – young face, merciless authority. There was something familiar in that voice too. Lance couldn’t quite place it and gave up trying when he realised he was losing the threads of his excuse. Looking to the wall he shoved his foot down hard.

‘Relacing my boots!’ He forced out a laugh as he fiddled vaguely with the laces.   

‘Down here?’

Oh boy, this guy was relentless.

‘Yeah, I was down here because…’ He looked at the corridor, the doors squaring up to him like an army. The light shone off the plates, the closest one beckoning him, name flashing in his mind. ‘I needed to speak to Shirogane! Yes. That’s it! Because I’m new!’

His excuse came flooding back now, rolling easily off the tongue thanks to his hours of preparation in front of the bathroom mirror. The man narrowed his eyes, finally walking to meet him.

‘And you realise I’m Shirogane, right?’

Shit. ‘I do now.’

Shirogane let out a puff of breath, that almost seemed like a laugh, producing a large ring full of keys and unlocking the door in front of them.

‘Well, I hadn’t been told about any new interns, but I’d be happy to help you out…’

He trailed off, looking at Lance expectantly. Lance’s mind took a second to catch up the words, still reeling over the fact he was very close to being found out, ‘Oh, it’s Lance!’

The guy paused in opening the door to give Lance a peculiar look. It made his hairs stand on end, like his entire soul was being analysed and he began babbling, ‘I only started today! Which is probably why you didn’t hear about me. I’m actually on my first patrol, Lotor said I should introduce myself to everyone.’

Shirogane nodded vaguely, entering the room fully and allowing Lance ahead of him before he let it click shut. Lance stood awkwardly, watching the journey the keys made as the man threw them in a perfect arc onto the desk. With the number there he reckoned there was one for each door, Lotor’s included.

Shirogane turned to the shelves behind his desk and ran a finger along them, adding files one at a time. Whilst he was distracted Lance drew the keys to his side, shifting their gravity to stop them jingling. Just as they were safely tucked into his pocket, Shirogane turned.

A smile pinged on Lance’s lips, and he quickly stood up straight, awaiting instruction. Shirogane pulled his desk chair out, gesturing to the seat opposite him as he sat behind his desk. Lance dropped onto the wooden chair, and began observing the table edge. The glaze was chipped in places, covering a dark wood that was striped with black. It was quite regal looking and could very well be an antique.

‘So,’

Lance jerked his head up. Shifting his hands between his knees and the velvet cushion below him, he concentrated on the face in front of him, but it was carefully closed off.

‘Where did you decide to put your insignia?’

That was easy! Lance flopped back in his chair, throwing his foot onto his knee. ‘Just below my left collar bone. That way it’s near my heart but easy to show off.’

Shirogane nodded, ‘can I see it?’

Lance choked, ‘I’m sorry?’

‘You’re proud of it, right? Designs vary from person to person, I’d like to see what makes yours unique.’

Crap. Why didn’t he just lie? He couldn’t exactly show a Voltron tattoo to his apparently new Marmoran boss.

‘I-I haven’t actually got it yet.’

Shirogane seemed thoughtful at this and Lance wriggled in his seat. He wanted to be anywhere else right now. The man stood up and walked over to a cupboard at the corner of the room. Lance couldn’t help notice the way his jacket hugged his biceps as he reached for something on the top shelf. Lance gulped. The guy could take him blindfolded.

‘I’ll give you a temporary one then,’ he said, spinning around clutching a shoebox, ‘can’t have a Superhero out there without an alliance.’

Oh god. Lance was gonna die. He leant further back in his chair, letting it tip onto the back legs as Shirogane approached.

‘Come on then! Pull down your collar. We can put it exactly where you said, below your collar bone and above your heart.’

Shirogane was way too close now, and Lance craned his neck towards the box to avoid looking at him. It was full of temporary tattoos, cut into various sizes, all sporting Marmora’s symbol. Lance flapped at his cape to generate some cool air.

‘Nah I’m good!’ He squeaked.

Shirogane hummed. Dropping the box on the table, he leant back against the desk and folded his arms. He gave Lance a once over, smirk quirked against his cheek.

Lance felt his skin crawl and he glanced over at the door. It was miles away and he couldn’t be certain it wasn’t just a vision of an oasis.

‘Show me your insignia.’

Lance whipped back around.

‘I don’t have a-‘

‘Yes, you do.’ Shirogane cut in, ‘it’s just not a Marmoran one, is it?’

Lance bit his lip. Shirogane didn’t seem to want to kill him, he actually seemed sort of amused, eyes crinkled and lip battling against his cheek.

With reluctance, Lance pulled back his costume. ‘Name’s Ice-Spy. I’m with Voltron.’

Shirogane nodded smugly, tapping against his desk. ‘Thought so. Looking for Keith?’

Oh my god how much did this guy know!?

‘Don’t freak out,’ Shirogane said through a laugh, ‘Keith told me all about you.’

A hand ruffled Lance’s hair and he just let it happen, not even trying to straighten out the mess.

‘So you know, how we uh…’

‘Yes.’

Lance frowned, picking at his trouser leg. It dawned on him why Shirogane’s voice was so familiar. It was the very same one Keith was talking to upstairs. Guilt squeezed his stomach, draining the blood from his face.

‘Lance.’

Shirogane had a hand on his knee, and he crouched down to look up at Lance from the ground as if he were a child. It should have offended him but looking into the grey eyes he saw nothing but kindness.

‘You still like Keith, don’t you?’

Lance sucked on his lip, considering how to answer. Shirogane was too astute to lie to. And Lance found more than anything, he just didn’t want to. He let out a sigh, sprawling over his seat. ‘Yes. So much. I hate that I’ve hurt him! This situation is just so…’

‘Shit?’

Whoa! The swear had Lance giggling despite himself. Teachers shouldn’t swear, and that’s what Shirogane looked like right now. A rigid school teacher, trying to relate to the kids.

‘Yes, shit.’ He agreed, immediately charmed by the man.

‘Well, maybe if you two just talked properly, you might get somewhere.’

Lance nodded, a buzz beginning in his veins. Was Shirogane proposing what Lance was hoping?

‘Then I’ll be back in five. Wait here.’

Lance watched helpless as Shirogane left the room. Then his brain clicked to action. This was his chance. Shirogane didn’t know the whole truth and Keith was still in danger, with or without a conversation. Lance leapt out the chair and rushed to the office next door.

Flicking through the keys, metal scratched against metal as Lance shoved each into the lock. The fifth finally twisted through and Lance fell into the room.

It was completely white. Minimal furnishings filled minimal space and drawers were cut sleekly into the walls. Lance dived in, ripping the cupboards open and scanning file heads. There were a lot  – names he didn’t recognise, places he did and criminals he wished he didn’t.

‘Can I help you?’

Lance sprang upwards. That wasn’t Shirogane. Or Keith. It was deadly.

At the door was a slender man, tall with glistening long hair. His face was pinched and he eyed Lance’s movements like a hawk. Lotor.

‘I’m new!’ Lance blurted out before he could think. ‘Needed to put away my report!’

Letting out a laugh, Lance shoved the drawer closed with a momentous crash. Power walking to the door he’d nearly scored freedom when Lotor swiped a hand into his path. It burned over Lance’s insignia that lay hidden beneath the thinnest layers of fabric. Lance eyed him warily.

‘You’ll have to forgive my brashness,’ He began in an unpleasant voice. It carried authority – but the cold kind. Not a leader – a dictator. ‘I’m usually notified of new employees. You hand your reports direct to me, no filing, understand?’

Lance nodded, not daring to breathe.

‘Good.’ Lotor removed his hand and Lance practically ran out the door.

‘Oh, one more thing.’

Lance grabbed the door frame to stop himself and leaned back. ‘Yes?’

‘Tell Shirogane to take better care of his keys.’

Lance’s blood froze. He squeezed the doorframe so tight he thought it would splinter. But Lotor was no longer interested in him. Already sat behind his desk, his reading glasses rested low on his nose as he read over whatever paper was on his desk.

Lance didn’t wait for further conversation. He sprinted out the door.

 

Springing up the stairs, his mind raced. Lotor!? He’d met Lotor!? And he’d definitely known Lance had stolen the key! How? Had he been watching!? Those shrewd eyes could probably see everything. He let out a shudder, increasing speed to get to the double doors as fast as physics would let him.

Leading with splayed hands he ran straight into the doors only to bounce right on back. He blinked, ass on the floor. What the hell? Jumping to his feet, he pushed at the doors again, expecting them to swing easily open. They didn’t budge.

Lance’s blood drained from his veins.

‘Having trouble, newbie?’

Lance spun around, back landing against the door roughly. Lotor was slowly climbing up the stairs like an ethereal being rising from the sea. Lance gulped. ‘Y-yeah, the doors are locked.’

‘Funny.’

Lotor was face to face with him now, or more like neck to face given how he loomed and Lance shrunk.

‘Tell me, what exactly were you looking for in my office?’

‘I wasn’t looking for anything!’

‘Was it these?’

Lotor lifted a wad of papers up, the name catching Lance’s eye. They were signed Thunderstorm Darkness and looked suspiciously like patrol reports.

‘You know I don’t take well to intruders.’

Lance’s tongue felt heavy in his mouth.

‘So, if I were you, I’d be on my way.’

He stepped back now, digging in his pocket. Then there was fire. Lance was powerless as Lotor dragged a lighter along the bottom of the papers. Flames engulfed the words until they began curling in on themselves. Shavings of black fell to the floor, as he twisted them in the air, catching every corner.

‘If I see you again, you’ll receive the same fate, understood?’

Lance stared at the ash gathering on the carpet.

‘Good.’

Then he spun on his heels, coat blowing the dust in a spiral. Lance could only watch, as the ash floated down into a smouldering pile. What was he going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems lately I just keep on bullying these characters - I promise I do love them!!
> 
> Thanks for reading! ♥


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final showdown at Marmora

There was a flash and suddenly the door was a barrier no more. Lance found himself toppling towards the floor, encompassed by a foreign warmth. Air rushed out from his lungs as he landed on his back, hard. Blinking at the ceiling lights, his vision finally focussed in on a familiar red mask.

‘Keith?’ He breathed, unable to pull himself from the intense gaze. Keith was kneeling over him, fingers curled into his shoulders and staring like he was a ghost.

‘What’s going on? Why are you here? Why did Lotor threaten you?’

‘Uhh…’

Was Keith mad? He seemed kind of mad? In all of Lance’s excitement to see him, he’d never considered the feeling wasn’t mutual.

‘Keith.’

Lance jolted, craning his neck to find Shirogane leaning against a desk behind them. Keith must have dragged all three of them into the main office.

Shirogane didn’t look at Lance, opting to glare at Keith, ‘what do you really want to say?’

Keith tensed, a faint glow blooming on his cheeks. He cast his eyes away from Lance, staring holes into the floor. His chest expanded before he glanced back like a mouse scared to leave its home.

‘Are you okay?’

He searched Lance for any signs of damage, grip a little tighter than necessary and Lance’s heart stuttered. Letting out a sigh, Lance took in all that was Keith - the little furrow in his eyebrow, the incessant chewing on his lip and the intensity of his eyes digging through Lance because he couldn’t stop the care pouring from his body. Reaching up, Lance squeezed one of the hands on his shoulder.

‘Am now.’

Keith’s grip tightened suddenly, and he glanced back up at Lance’s face as if to confirm this. Lance smiled lazily from the floor and the fingers digging into his shoulder slowly loosened up. A cough behind them ripped apart the atmosphere.

‘I know I said I wanted you to talk, but I think there’s something more important being left unsaid.’

Right. That was his cue. Lance quickly shuffled out from underneath Keith and hopped up in front of the two of them. They wore matching expressions of apprehension, dark eyes intense on Lance and it made his skin feel too tight.

This wasn’t strictly allowed. But then again, he’d already failed his mission and had received a death threat, so it was kind of an “anything goes” situation. Lance took a deep breath before spilling everything.

‘Lotor’s been faking your agency’s patrol reports.’

Keith stared blankly at him.

‘And he’s also trying to frame you.’

Shirogane visibly stiffened, but carefully managed his features into a mask. ‘And you were here to clear Keith’s name but got caught?’

Lance bit his lip before nodding. Shirogane let out a sigh, burying his head in his hands before rubbing marks along where he predicted future wrinkles would lie. Lance had a feeling he had to deal with a lot of these situations.

‘B-but it’s all good!’ Lance rushed, ‘I mean he’s letting me leave. It was just a threat. And now you guys know, I’m sure we can rummage together some sort of proof!’

Keith nodded firmly but Shiro looked up with wide eyes, dragging his fingers down his cheeks. Lance fidgeted with his sleeve. ‘I mean only if you want to.’

‘No, it’s not that. I just don’t think…’

Lance waited for more but Shirogane didn’t carry on, instead he shook his head and stood up straight, clapping his hands together.

‘Okay team. If we’re going to get this proof, we have to do it tonight.’

He turned to Keith, ‘teleport into the offices and grab as many files as you can. I know Ulaz sometimes proof-reads reports for new recruits so he might have some spare copies lying around.’

At this he seemed to have a thought, glancing to Lance, ‘that’s assuming Voltron has a copy of Lotor’s final reports?’

‘Yep, several!’ Lance replied eagerly.

‘Okay.’ Keith said with finality. Then he bit his lip, looking at Lance.

Shirogane huffed out a laugh, ‘you have two minutes.’

Lance watched the man cross the room until he reached the staff kitchen when Keith grabbed Lance’s hand and stole away his focus.

‘Thank you.’

‘Umm, you’re welcome?’

Lance looked curiously at Keith, to find him closer than before. He could see the silver moonlight bouncing off the tables glistening in his irises and the air seemed magnetised, pulling him in.

‘For looking out for me.’ Keith explained softly, edging closer. His eyelashes were longer than Lance expected, tickling his cheeks as they fell. ‘I appreciate the help, but you know you can rely on me too.’

Lance was only able to nod, noticing the way Keith’s tongue flicked over his bottom lip.

‘I know we can’t work together as heroes,’ he said, casting his gaze down and Lance quickly lifted his chin back up to continue losing himself in those velvety eyes. ‘But I still want to be together. As people.’

Lance’s breath hitched. Keith’s hands smoothed their way up Lance’s arms, leaving trails like shooting stars until they settled just below his shoulders.

‘Can we?’

Lance could see the apprehension swirling around Keith’s pupils. His voice was so small but carried a powerful lilt of hope. Lance’s lips wobbled until they burst into a smile, eyes squeezing with the power of it. He tugged Keith close, wrapping his arms around his back.

‘I loved to.’

Then he leaned in far closer, feeling Keith’s breath brush across his lips. He glanced upwards. Keith’s eyes were already lidded and before he could look back down, lips were on his. The touch was gentle at first, before Lance tilted his head, knocking Keith’s nose as he went. Keith snorted, but Lance didn’t get a chance to pull back embarrassed as Keith caught him and pushed in deeper.

Lance breathed in Keith – smelling the rain in his hair and the mud on his boots. He slid his hands down to the other’s waist, pulling them flush together. Keith gasped, fingers tangled in Lance’s sleeves. Then the kiss grew more passionate.

Lance’s world narrowed down to the firmness of Keith’s lips, the warmth of his chest and the strength of his arms as they snaked over his shoulders, drawing them even closer. Lance couldn’t believe they’d arrived here. That he finally held Keith in his arms with a promise for more. Before long, his grin was breaking the kiss and he pulled back as soft giggles left his mouth.

‘Maybe Lotor will leave us alone if we make him uncomfortable with p.d.a.’

Keith shrugged, eye’s shining ‘I don’t mind testing that.’

He left a succession of quick kisses across Lance’s lips before they were curving again.

‘He might just kill us though.’

Keith hummed thoughtfully, hanging off Lance’s neck. ‘Point. Guess I’ll have to go then.’

He pulled Lance in for one last kiss that left his lips swollen and wanting more before stepping back. Hand lifted to his forehead he gave a quick salute that pinched Lance’s heart with affection before disappearing in a scattering of sparks. Lance flopped over his side, hugging his tummy that filled with warmth like he’d just finished a plate full of fluffy pancakes.

‘You done?’

Lance sighed, ‘yeah.’

‘Right.’ Shirogane marched towards him, all work, no play and Lance was reluctant to leave his rose-tinted wonderland. But the reminder of imminent threat did the trick. ‘We need to check all these desks for copies of reports. There’s not supposed to be any left out overnight, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t.’

Lance nodded sharply.

‘You take this side, I’ll take that one.’

‘Yes!’ Lance responded with a salute, ‘Shirogane sir!’

The man snorted, shoulders vibrating. ‘Just call me Shiro.’

Lance blushed. Keith must have rubbed off on him, he was cooler than this. Shiro started ripping drawers open and Lance quickly did the same. 

Diving into investigation, Lance scattered papers and chucked around pens. The room was filled with the sounds of crumpling paper and the sliding of drawers. Lance found a lot of useless forms empty of information and notebooks barely filled with crude drawings. But he didn’t let it stop him, hopping desk after desk hoping for something.

He soon came to the conclusion that Marmora was full of crap. There were pencil sharpenings, novelty rubbers and a whole lot of crisp packets but nothing of substance. Lance growled in frustration, tearing through the next desk with angered force. He was so caught up he didn’t notice a shift in the room behind him.

‘I thought I told you to leave?’

Lance whipped around.

Lotor was stood opposite him, icy glare unwavering. Black lightning rolled through the air around him, like a crude imitation of Keith’s pretty purple. Speaking of, Keith was there too. And Lance could suddenly taste bile. Keith’s neck was being squeezed under Lotor’s forearm, the hold not even flinching as Keith gasped, clawing at the skin. It was like he was an ant.

‘La-ance.’

The arm squeezed tighter and Keith made a horrible noise. Lance tried to take a step forward when something glimmered at his side. From the shadows, a figure rose, as if floating up from a pool of water. She wore a deadly black mask shaped like a crow’s beak and had piercing blue eyes set to kill. A thud sounded on his other side. Another woman had dropped down from the window and stayed in a low crouch. Her body seemed to ripple, skin changing colour until it matched the wall behind her and suddenly she wasn’t there. Or rather, she couldn’t be seen, Lance could still feel her gaze on him. Lance ignored them, facing Lotor head on.

‘Let him go.’ He commanded, squeezing his fists and feeling the air around them lose a few degrees. He didn’t want to act yet though, Keith could still get hurt.

‘No.’

Suddenly the whole room filled with blinding light. Lance made to stumble back and felt an arm grab his. He ripped it back, weight thrown elsewhere. The light strobed, flashes of crow face getting closer. Suddenly something fell on his back and he fell to the floor. Before he could retaliate it was thrown back off.

‘Lance!’

‘Shiro?’ Lance called, rolling to his feet. The world flashed around him. He caught glimpses of figures running towards him, Shiro wrestling something and Lotor’s manic laughter somewhere else.

‘Lance. Get under the desk.’

Lance did as he was told as best as he could, floor reappearing and disappearing as he stumbled across it.

Ducking under the metal table, he crawled behind the drawers where there was complete darkness. The strobes couldn’t reach under here and Lance slowly got his breath back. Shiro was a genius.

‘Who else knows about Lotor?’

‘Shiro?’

Lance peeked out from behind the drawers. The echoey voice had definitely belonged to Shiro but he was nowhere to be found.

‘Shush, don’t talk with your voice, speak with your mind.’

Lance frowned. He really wasn’t up for a philosophy lesson.

Laughter bubbled up behind him. It was fainter than the voice, and Lance felt strained to hear it.

‘I’m a telepath Lance.’

Oh. Well now he looked like an idiot. Letting out a verbal and mindful groan, he sunk back into the drawers.

‘Tell me who else knows. I can help.’

Lance bit his lip. This definitely wasn’t allowed. But he could hear a lot of fighting around him and the memory of Keith’s strangled scream had him letting go of any misgivings.

‘Allura, Pidge and Hunk. They’re the only ones. You need their hero names too?’

‘No. I’ve definitely met Allura before.’ There was quiet for a moment. ‘Okay, I’ve got this. Just sit tight for now.’

Sit tight? Lance didn’t really like that plan. Especially with that weird shadow traveller. He was probably a sitting duck for that one.

From below the desk, he used his enhanced vision to see the battle. The flashes didn’t have effect now, even if the figures were weird white outlines. He could see Shiro fighting in hand to hand combat with a large woman who easily knocked him back when he got too close. The crow lady was prowling around the desks, too close for comfort. Beyond them, Lotor was wading through the room, Keith kicking at his shins and struggling against his hold.

Lance needed the upper hand somehow. Laying his hand flat on the ground, he stole the heat from the floor, letting it crawl up his arm as he left a layer of ice below it. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the circle, pushing it outwards. He let it consume the floor, covering the entire space under his desk.

‘Lance!’ Came an alarmed voice in his head. Lance flinched, pausing in his quest. ‘Don’t let him see you use your power!’

‘What, why?’

‘He’s a mimic! Once he witnesses a power he can use it himself!’

That explained the black lightning. Lance cursed under his breath. Well, as long as he was under the desk he couldn’t be seen. Shutting his eyes, he focussed on the ice once again.

‘Finders keepers right?’

Lance started. The crow was grinning manically at him, just a head poking up from the floorboards. She kept talking in a sickly sweet voice, ‘come play!’

Before Lance could respond his hand was ripped from the carpet and his scalp slammed against the desk. He tumbled into the shadow like the floor wasn’t even there, reappearing in the middle of the room, head pounding. The flashing stopped and instead the room was flooded with bright light. A third woman dropped down from the ceiling, a black diamond painted over one eye and lips dripping in white.

‘Thank you for your retrieval Ezor.’

‘Acxa please, the pleasure is all mine.’

Lance was shoved forward with those words, as the woman, Ezor, took a deep bow. Lotor stepped up next to Acxa, throwing Keith down alongside Lance. Immediately, Keith began spluttering and Lance forced himself to reach out for his back, rubbing soothing circles as his vision dipped as if he were on a boat.

‘Seems Zethrid is having trouble with that last one, if you’d be so kind.’ Lotor spoke coldly and Ezor flicked her lips in a deadly snicker. She sprang back in a cartwheel, but Lance didn’t bother watching any further, his vision starry and the sudden movements make his stomach lurch.

Instead, his focus went to Keith whose hand was digging into Lance’s thigh, fingers coiling in the fabric and pressing bruises into his skin. Lance placed his own hand over it, linking their fingers. Looking up, Lance found pain flash across Keith eyes with every ragged inhalation. He ran his thumb along Keith’s fingers and hauled himself up to whisper gentle words of encouragement into his hair.  

Lotor crouched in front of them and Lance threw him as much anger as he could afford not to keep.

‘You know what I said.’ Lotor spoke coolly. Clicking his fingers, fire sparked like a lighter. ‘You ready?’

Lance snarled.

‘Good.’

He stood back to his full height, whispering to Acxa beside him. Lance squeezed Keith’s hand. They could still teleport out of this, Keith just needed a little time to build his strength. A distraction.

An explosion shaking the entire building did the trick. The wall burst open as rubble flew through the air. Lance fell into Keith, ears ringing as dust spilled over his vision.

‘LOTOR.’

Allura!? Lance forced his eyes to focus on the gap that was once the wall to his right. She was in her full hero gear, a suit of shining silver armour with pale pink under shirt. White wings sprouted from her back where she floated in the air like an angel. Hunk was clinging to her back in a death grip, yellow goggles fogged over with how much sweat poured across his forehead. Pidge was held limply against her chest, dressed in her dark green jumpsuit and white cropped top. She was panting, seeming to be recovering from a huge amount of energy-loss. The explosion! It must have been her and her supersonic waves!

Lance bloomed with affection. His team! They’d saved him!

Allura nose-dived into the office, dropping Pidge to the floor as Hunk scrambled off. Feet barely on the ground and Hunk was dashing towards the nearest desk. Rolling to a stop, he shut his eyes and pressed his hands to the box.

Allura stayed true to her path, tackling Lotor without hesitation. Acxa lunged forward and Lance hauled Keith back against him out the way.

Acxa’s white lips twitched, before she glared at Lance. Then the flashes started again.

He peddled backwards, flipping his vision as dots scattered across his regular one.

‘Keith,’ he whispered, hoping the other hadn’t passed out, ‘please, can we teleport?’

There was no answer and Lance rolled them to the side as Acxa leapt at them. She was relentless and Lance could barely move Keith in time. Hooking an arm under Keith’s ribs he shoved his hand behind him, dragging them back. Suddenly, the carpet was harsh under it and he snatched it back. Ice! His ice!

Quickly, Lance manoeuvred back to his feet, pulling Keith up as he went. Keith groaned and Lance gave him an involuntary squeeze.

‘Just a little longer my love.’

Boots made to walk on ice, Lance ran backwards and Acxa followed after. As soon as she crossed the threshold, her feet slipped out from underneath her. Lance let out a laugh, pulling Keith close. Her eyes became spears but Lance simply smirked. He let the ice pool together, before throwing it across her legs. She shrieked, falling to the ground. As she tried to regain position, she found she couldn’t move her legs and began thrashing desperately. Lance doubled his efforts, holding her arms in place too.

Acxa continued to struggle, spitting insults at Lance as the ice crawled across her back. Lance found Keith slipping from his grip as he poured his efforts into his power and he quickly pulled him back up, stumbling with the shift. Sweat beading on his forehead, Lance closed his eyes and imagined the ice curling up the woman’s throat like creeping vines. Her words turned to incoherent screeches as he froze her face, panting with the effort. Opening his eyes, he cast the last of the ice from the carpet over her head, trapping her like a spider’s prey. He smirked at the statue of rage. Acxa was no longer a threat.

Energy depleted, Lance’s legs finally buckled. Falling to the floor, Keith landed heavily on top of him with a groan. Lance could no longer hold him, arms falling limply to his sides. As he regained his breathing, he watched the chaos around him continue. Allura had shifted into a lion, armour now covering her face, as she charged at Lotor, trapping him beneath her claws. Blood trickled from his collar as she pushed her face into his.

On the other side of the room, Shiro had Zethrid pinned, trapping her hands with glowing cuffs Lance had never see before. Once they clicked shut, her skin stopped resembling the carpet and she fell limp on the floor, powerless.

Ezor wasn’t far off, curling towards the ground clutching her ears. Pidge was propped up on the desk beside Hunk, hand reached out towards Ezor to stream debilitating frequencies directly into her ears. Shiro approached carefully until Pidge gave him the go ahead, dropping her hand. Ezor collapsed in relief but it was short lived when Shiro rammed her hands into the glowing cuffs.

‘No!’

Lance whipped around at Allura’s shriek. Below her, the air was crackling with black lightning. Lance swallowed hard and pulled Keith tighter to him. Keith let out another groan, pulling away.

‘It’s,’ he hissed, before taking a break to pant, ‘m-my fault.’

What? Lance shifted to his feet and turned Keith around in his arms. Looking him in the eye, he lowered his voice, ‘this is in no way your fault.’

Keith’s breath hitched, eyes pooling. He reached out a shaking hand, brushing dust from Lance’s cheek. ‘I teleported right in front of him. I-I gave him that power. I led him straight to you.’

Lance shook his head. He wanted Keith to conserve his strength. Didn’t want to hear him blame himself. Didn’t like the croaking his voice had turned into.

‘Lotor doesn’t have your power.’ Lance said firmly, stroking his thumb across Keith’s forehead ‘He has a cheap imitation. Your power can take you across countries to save people, Lotor’s got him up a few floors to kill the occupants.’

Keith flinched at this but Lance slid his hand through his hair, letting his nails soothe against his scalp ‘he can’t get that far with stolen tricks.’

‘LANCE LOOK OUT!’

Lance’s eyes widened. Beyond Keith, Lotor was running at him with thudding footsteps. Eyes manic, he tore across the room with a knife aimed straight for Keith’s back. Lance’s grip tightened. Before Lotor could make it, he hauled Keith around.   

Pain screamed in Lance’s back as the knife burned through his skin. He fell limp over Keith. Cold oozed along his spine and the world seemed to blur as if he were looking through fog. The pressure disappeared behind, accompanied by indiscernible noise. There was shouting. Lots of it. But it all sounded so far away, like there was cotton in his ears.

His body was shifted and the world was bright now, blurred shapes bobbing around in front of him. He was pulled close to something. It was warm. Lance leaned into it, breath hiccupping.

There was a tight pinching on his arm and Lance groaned, burying into the warmth. Why did everything hurt? He wanted to sleep. To let it go. The pinching grew stronger and he tried to glare at it.

‘-ance.’

‘Plea-

‘Hang on.’

The ground disappeared and then his stomach felt funny. Wanting to throw up, he gagged but pain shot from his back and he stiffened instead. Purple dots clouded his vision and he was being moved again. Now he was lying on his front and air rushed over him. Speeding along, the world became a white haze. There was another pinch on his arm, tiny this time. It made his eyelids grow heavier. The white was fading into black. He missed the purple. That was nice. He liked that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LANCE IS OKAY PROMISE XX
> 
> Thank you so much for sticking around and leaving any kudos and comments! They keep me writing! ♥
> 
> One chapter left and it shall by fluff central~


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of kisses.

A steady alarm brought Lance out of his slumber. An unwilling participant in the world, he let out a groan, turning his face into the pillow.

‘La-ance.’ A voice cooed above him. A finger poked at his cheek. ‘Jeez, you’d think after sixteen hours you’d have had enough.’

Lance squinted at the man above him. Hunk leaned right up into his face, still poking. Lance batted his hand away. ‘Turn off the alarm.’

A blinding grin spread across Hunk’s face and Lance was smothered by an eager body. ‘Oh man I’m so glad to hear your voice!’

Patting awkwardly at his back, Lance wheezed through the tight hold Hunk had on him. ‘Alarm, bud, alarm.’

‘Not an alarm Lance.’

Pidge? Pidge was here too. Lance pushed Hunk away, sitting up to breathe in a whole two lungs full of air before taking in the room. This wasn’t his apartment. Or his clothes. He was wearing a hospital gown, wires plugging him into a machine that beeped rhythmically. Oh. That was the alarm. A heart monitor.

Pidge sat beside his bed, chin resting in her hands, elbows dipping the mattress beside him.

‘What happened?’ he asked carefully.

‘You got stabbed by Lotor.’ Hunk offered, still close enough for Lance to smell the coffee on his breath.

‘Literally in the back.’ Pidge added, barely concealing her amusement, ‘only you could get into these situations, I swear.’

Now that he’d been reminded of it, a dull ache made itself known below his ribs. And the thought of Lotor had bile crawling up his throat. ‘Did he get away?’

‘No,’ Hunk said, pinching his leg. ‘We did it buddy!’

Pidge nodded, carrying on the explanation, ‘Hunk got the computers to send all the previous versions of Marmora’s reports to Voltron as proof of his meddling and Allura trapped Lotor whilst Shiro got him cuffed. Apparently, he’d been suspicious for a while, just needed the final push to capture him.’

Lance nodded. The whole event was still a little hazy though, like the memory was covered by mist.  ‘And how did I get here?’

‘Keith brought you.’ Hunk replied, settling onto the bed next to him, ‘the nurses said that as soon as you were taken care of, he collapsed from exhaustion.’

‘Oh.’

Lance caught the collar of his gown, twisting the fabric between two fingers. Keith. Warm body against his own, smile sweeter than honey, voice a comforting bassline. Fear stricken eyes, vulnerable in his arms. His fist squeezed tight. ‘Is he okay?’

Hunk nodded, and relief flooded through Lance. Muscles losing tension he slipped down to rest his head on Hunk’s shoulder. It was soft and warm. Better than any pillow and he snuggled in as Hunk talked.

‘Shiro took him home a few hours ago, who by the way, is now the head of Marmora. Amazing right? Anyway, Keith will be bedbound for a while yet, got a couple of broken ribs to fix.’

Bedbound? Lance frowned. That meant he wouldn’t get to see him.

Hunk shoved a hand into his hair, ruffling the strands. ‘We asked if he wanted to come see you. But he said you hadn’t seen each other without your masks.’

‘I believe his exact words were, “I want to do this properly”, what a dork.’ Pidge scoffed although it was hardly without affection. Hunks gleaming eyes only added to this interpretation.

‘It’s so romantic!’ He swooned, and Lance felt his cheeks heat up.

Something seemed to strike Hunk, as a wave a seriousness wafted over him. He grabbed Lance’s shoulders and leant in close, ‘I approve.’

Lance flushed. He tried to pull the sheets over his head, but Hunk had them clamped down where he sat.

‘Same.’ Pidge chimed, pulling the sheets back down to get a good look at his red cheeks. ‘I hate your stupid sappy face but, yeah, I approve.’

‘Guys,’ Lance moaned, ‘stop.’

The two only laughed, vowing to never quit. Their conversation filled the room and Lance nearly forgot he was even in a hospital until the nurse came in to run some tests and announce the end of visiting hours. Lance tried not to pout as his friends gathered their coats.

They hovered awkwardly at his bedside before Pidge gave in and threw herself at his neck.

‘If I don’t see you back in the office soon I’ll kill you myself.’

‘I don’t doubt that.’

A puff of air hit his neck as Pidge laughed. Giving a final painful squeeze, she pressed a kiss into his hair to muffle her words. ‘Glad we have an understanding.’

Then she stood back up, fixing him with a stare and gesturing between her eyes and his. Lance adored her mildly threatening care. It filled him with the urge to squeeze her pudgy cheeks. Unfortunately, he could barely move an inch without his back screeching so he settled with a puff of laughter.

A hand brushed across his forehead and Lance sighed as it stroked his hair back before Hunk ducked in. Leaving a kiss on his forehead, he rubbed his thumb along the space.

‘Get better soon bud. We love you.’

Lance smiled lazily up at him. Hunk was the perfect surrogate and Lance would not have survived leaving home without him.

‘Love you too.’

Hunk ruffled his hair, pink dusting his cheeks. Lance felt like his friends had left a protective spell over him as they left. He felt warm and cared for.

 

A couple of hours later he felt decidedly less so. The hospital was all shadows and emptiness. There were no comforting pillows, or the fairy lights Lance loved so much. He wanted to toss and turn to get rid of the nervous energy but just a slight twist and his back sent a shot of poison through his veins.

Letting out an exhausted groan he stared at the ceiling. How was anyone supposed to recover in these conditions?

A tapping sound caught his ears – like he’d missed the bin when throwing a paper snowball. He turned his head to his side-table and let out an involuntary gasp.

Purple glitter sparkled over the wall and on the table below was a folded note. Grabbing at it with far too much vigour than required, especially given his recovery, he snatched it in his hand and pulled it above his head. Unfolding the piece of paper, he found words scrawled across plain paper.

‘Lance.

I don’t know if you’re awake or if you’ll even get this - Shiro was smirking a lot when he told me your room number – but if you do. Hi.’

Lance snorted. How was Keith such a dork even in written form.

‘I just wanted to say, you’re stupid for what you did, and I disapprove.

And also, thank you.

I don’t know many people who would do that, let alone someone who would do that to save a loner like me. You’re far too good to me. ~~And~~ ~~So~~ But if you’ll allow it, I’d like to try to be the same for you.

Yours,

Keith.’

Lance blinked. Then he read it again and blinked some more. It didn’t help as the tears spilt down his cheeks anyway. Keith was too sweet. It made his chest hurt. How dare he make a recovery patient cry. Lance threw his hand onto the side-table, tapping around until he could find Pidge’s puzzle book and pen. She wouldn’t miss one page. He ripped out one of the crosswords, knowing how hung up she got on them and flipped over to the blank side.

‘Dear Keith,

I disapprove of your request. You’re already far too good to me. You send me little love letters when I’m in a hospital room alone. And I adore that.

When I finally recover from getting stabbed in the back, (seriously Lotor, wtf!?) I’m gonna kiss you all over that stupid face of yours and I demand you do the same for me. Without masks.

Yours truly,

Lance.’

Lance couldn’t stop the smile peeling over his lips as he folded the paper. Then it dropped when he realised he had no way to deliver it. WHAT THE HELL KEITH? YOU SEND A LETTER WITHOUT A RETURN ADDRESS? Lance considered re-writing his message to one that included a lot more stronger words. Instead he threw it on his bedside table and pulled his sheets stubbornly across his body. Then he unwound them and re-read Keith’s letter. Again and again until his body melted into liquid gold and sleep could finally draw him in.

 

The next evening, the portal reappeared and Lance threw his letter so hard he hoped it would knock Keith out. A paper dropped through to him just as he did and Lance scrambling to catch it before it could fall to the floor. The portal closed with sparks and Lance rolled back in bed, wincing at his stitches. Maybe he was a little too desperate for his own good.

‘Hey Lance.

I have no idea if yesterday’s letter got through but Shiro said you were still there, so I thought I’d try again. He’s been speaking with Allura via telepathy and I never realised what a good power that is until now. Anyway, I hope you’re recovering well. And the doctors are all nice. I’m sure they are, it’s their job. Not the point. I just want you to be okay. Did they give you the nice pudding with the caramel? I like those ones.

Bye.

Keith.’

Lance snickered to himself. Keith had no idea what he was doing, but god if he didn’t try. Lance looked over to his table, tray holding the half-eaten pudding in its plastic cup. He hated those. They were like eating congealed milk mixed with pure sugar. Maybe his next one could go to a better home?

His thoughts were broken by the return of sparks. A black hole opened in the wall and another paper dropped through, folded less precisely and corners crumpled. Lance caught it on the second bounce and opened it.

‘You got my letter!’

Lance snorted then another dropped through, followed in quick succession by a second. He shuffled to the edge of the bed to read them off the table.

‘I’d be happy to oblige to your request.’

‘This is Keith, by the way.’

Lance laughed so hard, he thought his wound might break open again. He barely minded the pain though, glowing with affection. Ripping out another puzzle he wrote back.

‘Really? I thought it was my other side-piece who communicates via papers dropped out of walls.’

Then he couldn’t help his lips stretching as he wrote another, ‘This is Lance, by the way.’

There was a good few minutes of quiet and Lance slowly grew concerned that his joke might have been on the wrong side of risky. But then another paper toppled down, knocking into his forehead.

‘Alright point made. You could never catch a side-piece.’

Lance’s jaw dropped open. Quickly scribbling out a response, the portal closed too soon. Lance shook his head trying not to grin. He wrote out a new reply ready for tomorrow.

‘YOU CAN’T WIN AN ARGUMENT BY SHUTTING OFF THE ONLY COMMUNICATION CHANNEL.’

 

Lance spent the rest of his evenings in the hospital exchanging letters with Keith and swapping puddings for contraband. Soon he was given the all clear and on his last letter he had a request.

‘It’s my last night in hospital tonight! Then I have a week chained to my desk before Allura lets me back on patrol. They’re limited to an hour for the moment. And only minor incidents – like that boy stuck in a tree kind of incidents. Remember that woman? She was a character. Can’t wait to meet more people like that. But still, I’ll be out! So will you meet me on the roof top where we first met? At five o’clock in one weeks’ time? I wanna see you as soon as possible.’

He felt nervous about sending this one. Like everything was in tentative balance and these few words could send it toppling over the edge. He pushed the corners of the paper in on themselves. Maybe he shoudn’t? The portal opened and Keith’s letter fell through. He read that instead.

‘I miss your face. And your annoying voice telling me I’m walking the wrong way. Hurry up and get better.’

Lance smiled. What was he so scared about? He flicked the letter through without much of a second thought.

After a moment, a slice came floating back.

‘Of course.’

 

 

‘Hey.’

Lance spun round, cape whipping at his legs. As soon as his uneventful patrol had finished, he’d run over to the hotel, climbing up the fire-escape to wait. And now here was Keith. Silhouetted against the orange sky, standing opposite Lance.

‘Hey.’

Hopping off the edge of the roof, Keith slowly walked forward, Lance meeting him half way.

‘How you feeling?’ He asked, voice like silk. His hands smoothed around Lance’s waist, settling on the small of his back. Lance melted at the touch.  

‘Good thanks.’

Wrapping his arms around Keith’s neck, Lance drew him closer until he could feel his breath across his lips.

‘I’ve missed you.’ He whispered, nudging their noses together.

‘I missed you too.’

Keith’s eyes flickered down to his lips and he stepped ever so slightly closer. Lance could smell the salt of his skin, tempting him to bury his nose in Keith’s neck. Instead, he tilted his head up so their eyes could lock. For a second, Lance’s whole world was Keith’s dark eyes. The pupils blown and swirling with the golden light of the sun. Then his eyelids slipped shut and they finally connected. A gentle peck at first, a polite meeting of lips. Then it was more. Lance felt consumed with greed, tightening his arms to reel Keith closer.

He pushed their lips together in an almost bruising passion. Tilting his head into a better angle, Keith smoothed his hands over Lance’s back. Lance wanted more, to feel Keith’s entirety. His hands strayed into Keith’s hair, tugging at the strands and making Keith gasp. As he did, Lance sucked in his bottom lip and nibbled at the chapped skin. Keith let out a groan and everything heated up.

Bending down without breaking the kiss, Keith hooked his hands below Lance’s ass and hauled him upwards. Lance let out a giddy laugh, wrapping his legs around the other and clinging like a koala. Kissing his cheek, Keith walked them back towards the stairwell.

Pressed against the wall, Lance left open mouthed kisses along the sensitive skin of Keith’s jaw, savouring every noise that spilled from his lips. Shifting his gravity, he lay back against the wall, tugging Keith by the shirt until he was flush against him. Keith hummed, taking Lance’s mouth back to his lips. His hand wormed its way around to the small of Lance’s back. When Keith’s other hand hit the wall next to his head, they were sent toppling backwards.

Bouncing on a mattress, Lance blinked. They were in a bedroom, with orange bulb lights hanging along the ceiling around them. Printed pictures were taped to the walls and grey sheets covered the bed below. Keith hovered over Lance wearing a wild grin.

‘Welcome to my humble abode.’

Lance’s breath caught in his throat. ‘That was so hot.’

Then he hauled him forward in a searing kiss.

Keith’s hand smoothed over Lance’s chest, travelling all the way up to his jaw and making Lance sigh as he arched into the touch. Keith cradled Lance’s cheek, sliding calloused fingers upwards to his mask. Fingertips dipped below the fabric, before he pulled back.

‘Can I?’

Lance swallowed thickly, heart racing against his chest. He wanted to give Keith all of him, and right now the desire was burning through his entire being. All he could manage was a shaky nod. Keith moved to hold Lance’s face in both hands before he finally removed the mask.

Air rushed across Lance’s skin, free of the bind. Lance sighed and Keith stared in awe. Then a wide smile overtook his features. He dipped in close before kissing each of Lance’s cheek bones now free of the blue material.

‘Gorgeous.’ He breathed across Lance’s skin sending shivers down his spine. Lance fidgeted below him, realising he had no way to hide the red that was erupting over his cheeks.

‘You’re turn,’ he rushed, pushing himself up into a seated position. Keith nodded reaching up but Lance caught his hands. ‘Let me.’

Lance let his fingers trace over the red velvet, indulging in the soft curves. He held Keith’s gaze a fraction longer, soaking up the last moment of their secret identities. This was it. Keith’s true self. Lance’s heart hammered against his chest. Slipping his fingertips underneath, he slowly pushed the mask up. Keith’s pinkened cheeks bloomed below dark eyes. Thick eyebrows reappearing, Lance moved back to get a good look. Then his jaw dropped.

‘Train asshole!?’

 

 

Three months later~

Lance shuffled further up the train, pulling his woolly hat over his ears in a futile attempt at fighting the cold. The doors opened, and a chilling breeze rushed straight under his coat, shivers running up his spine.

‘Hey baby.’

Keith swung around the pole to leave a peck on Lance’s cheek as he boarded the train. Lance grinned at him.

‘Wow fancy seeing you here.’

‘Madness.’ Keith replied, before nudging his cardboard tray into Lance’s chest. ‘Cinnamon spice latte?’

Lance hummed, pressing a kiss to the other's lips as the fragrance of coffee wafted into his nose, ‘only a hundred and two more to go.’

‘But I’m getting there.’

Lance laughed taking his drink. ‘Sure. What did you get?’

‘Peppermint mocha. Extra cream.’

Lance shook his head, ‘I’d expect no less.’

Keith took a sip of his drink, pink cheeks barely visible between his scarf and hat. Lance wished they could go hide away in warm blankets all day. But they had a job to do.

‘Last day of supervision today.’ Lance murmured. Keith’s face became over taken with a grin. He leaned in close.

‘Then we’ll have approval to work together anytime we want.’

Lance mirrored his expression. ‘And we won’t hear Pidge gag every time I _accidentally_ grab your ass.’

‘How romantic.’ Keith mused. The train hit a bump and he stumbled forward, droplets of mocha flying out. Lance gasped as it landed on his coat.

‘How DARE.’ He announced. Keith rolled his eyes.

‘It was an accident.’

‘Whatever. I’ll be telling Hunk all about this and you’ll receive an earful during our patrol later.’

Keith huffed in amusement, ‘I’ll be sure to prepare myself for the wrath of Hunk.’

‘Hey, you’d be surprised. Hunk can be pretty scary when angered.’

‘Oh, I agree,’ Keith said, leaning back against the pole. ‘He’s totally scary against criminals. I just think you’re overestimating the anger he’ll feel over a few droplets of coffee.’

Lance gave him a flat look. ‘It’s mocha. So yeah.’

Keith buried his laughter in his scarf. ‘Right.’

He stretched his neck to get a look out of foggy window.

‘You’re stop?’

Keith nodded.

Lance hooked his fingers in Keith’s coat and pulled himself up.

‘Have a good day at work, lover.’ He whispered before capturing his lips in a chocolate dipped kiss. Keith’s smile broke it as he leaned back, the doors opening at the station.

‘See you later, trouble.’

He left a last peck on Lance’s lips before he was gone. Lance hugged his coffee to his chest. Patrol was already too far away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god do you know how long I've been waiting for that train asshole moment!? Also that’s probably the most heated kiss I’ve ever written I'm blushing. But I really thought it would add to the effect so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Anyway thank you so much for reading and commenting and kudos-ing!! This took a lot longer than I ever thought it would, with subplots I didn’t even plan to begin with but, hey, I let it write itself and it still got me to the stupid train asshole ending I love so much so who cares lmao!? Thanks again for sticking around!
> 
> Until next time~


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